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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/35199-h.zip b/35199-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..693b61c --- /dev/null +++ b/35199-h.zip diff --git a/35199-h/35199-h.htm b/35199-h/35199-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2fb5cb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/35199-h/35199-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4257 @@ + +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Torn Bible, by Alice Somerton. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + --> + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Torn Bible, by Alice Somerton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Torn Bible + Or Hubert's Best Friend + +Author: Alice Somerton + +Release Date: February 7, 2011 [EBook #35199] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORN BIBLE *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Griff Evans, Lindy Walsh and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + +<p class="center"><img src="images/icover.jpg" alt="Cover" width="467" height="700" /></p> + + + + + +<h1>THE +TORN BIBLE</h1> +<h4>OR</h4> +<h3>HUBERT'S BEST FRIEND</h3> + +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>ALICE SOMERTON</h2> +<h4>AUTHOR OF "LAYTON CROFT" ETC.</h4> + + + + +<p class="center"><img src="images/i006.png" alt="Publisher's Logo" width="200" height="175" /></p> + +<p class="center">LONDON +FREDERICK WARNE AND CO. +AND NEW YORK +</p> +<hr style="width: 75%;" /> +<p class="center"><img src="images/i005.jpg" alt="He tried to open the window that he might throw it into +the sea." width="451" height="700" /><br /> + +<span class="smcap">He tried to open the window that he might throw it into +the sea.</span><br /> + +<a href="#Page_24">See p. 24</a>.</p> + +<hr style="width: 75%;" /> +<p class="center">TO GLANVILLE +AND +HIS EIGHT SCHOOLFELLOWS.</p> + +<p>Perhaps, dear boys, you wonder why I should have dedicated this little +book to you: it is that you may feel a deeper interest in it, and +imbibe, from reading it, an earnest love and reverence for your Bible, +which, like a good angel, can guide you safely through the world as long +as you live. Like Hubert's mother, I ask you to read a portion every +day; and, whatever be the battle of life you may have to fight, may +God's blessing attend you, making you humble towards Him, dutiful to +your parents, and a blessing to mankind.</p> + +<p> +Believe me,<br /> +Yours affectionately,<br /> +ALICE SOMERTON.<br /> +</p> +<hr style="width: 75%;" /> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<h2>Contents</h2> +<ul> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I</b></a> Hubert's Departure From Home.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II </b></a> Too Late For The Post-bag.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III</b></a> The Bible Torn.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV </b></a> Ellen Buchan.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V </b></a> Hubert Wounded.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI </b></a> The Time For Reflection.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII </b></a> What The Torn Bible Had Done For Hubert.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII </b></a> Homeward Bound.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX </b></a> True Friendship.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X </b></a> The Wanderer's Return.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI </b></a> Home At Last.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII </b></a> Memories Of Childish Days.</li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII </b></a> At Rest.</li> +</ul> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + +<hr style="width: 75%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<h1>THE TORN BIBLE.</h1> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h2>HUBERT'S DEPARTURE FROM HOME.</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">May thy goodness</span><br /> +Share with thy birthright! * * * *<br /> +* * * What heaven more will<br /> +That these may furnish and my prayers pluck down,<br /> +Fall on thy head! Farewell.—<span class="smcap">Shakespeare.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>The rural and picturesque village of Hulney, in the north of England, is +a charming place; it is almost surrounded with well-wooded hills, and +the little rivulets, which ever murmur down their sides, run into the +limpid stream along the banks of which most of the cottages are built.</p> + +<p>At the north end of the village, on the slope of a hill, is the church, +so thickly covered with ivy that the only portions of the stonework +visible are part of the ancient tower and the chancel window.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<p>Legend and historic fact hang their mantle round this old church. +History tells us that the brave, yet often cruel, Margaret, wife of +Henry VI., fled there after a defeat in one of her battles; and it is +also recorded that one hundred of the heroes of Flodden Field rested +there on their return from the victory. Modern times have added to the +interest which clings to this old place, and one thing especially which +draws attention will form the subject of this story.</p> + +<p>In that old churchyard, where the children of many generations lie side +by side, there is many a touching or interesting record; but the +stranger ever lingers the longest near seven white grave-stones, all +bearing the name of Goodwin. Upon the one which has the most recent date +is the following inscription:—"Sacred to the Memory of Hubert Goodwin, +aged seventy years;" and below this a book, partly destroyed, with +several of the loose leaves, is carved upon the stone: and though, +perhaps, this description of it may not be striking, the exquisite +carving of that destroyed book is such that people ask its meaning, and +they are told that it is a "torn Bible."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hubert Goodwin, the tenant of that grave, was the eldest of six +children, blessed with pious and affectionate parents, well to do in the +world, and descended from a family of some distinction.</p> + +<p>Great pains were bestowed upon Hubert's education, as he grew up to +youth; but from his birth he was of such a passionate turn, and at times +so ungovernable, that he was the source of all the sorrow that for many +years fell to the lot of his parents: he was different to their other +children, and many a time when reproof had been necessary, and the +little wayward one, after a troubled day, had retired to rest, his +mother's heart, still heavy, led her softly to the bed where he lay +sleeping, and there, kneeling down, she would commend him again, with +perhaps a deeper earnestness, to that One who knew all her trouble, and +whom she knew could alone help her. Once the boy awoke as his mother +knelt beside him, and, as though in answer to her prayer that his heart +might be changed, he burst into tears, and, throwing his arms round her +neck, expressed deep sorrow at having grieved her, and promised to try +and do better. Poor mother! her joy was brief; in a very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> short time he +was as undutiful and rebellious as ever, and so he continued until he +reached the age of twelve years, when, as he had determined upon being a +soldier, his parents, much against their wish, sent him to a military +school, to be educated for the army.</p> + +<p>A year rolled away, and all the accounts that came from the master of +Hubert's school informed his parents that he was a bold, unruly boy—a +great deal of trouble to his teachers—but he would probably tame down a +little in time, and do very well for the profession he had chosen. Many +and many a time these parents wept over the letters which spoke thus of +their son: they wished him to be a good soldier—one fearing and serving +God—and they oftentimes repeated their tale of sorrow to their good +pastor, in whom they were wont to confide; but his meed of comfort was +ever the same. What other could he offer? Good man, he knelt with them, +directed them to the source of true comfort, the Lord Jesus Christ, and +tried to lighten their hearts' burden by drawing them nearer to the hand +that afflicted them.</p> + +<p>When Hubert had been three years at school,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> he obtained, through the +influence of friends, a cadetship in one of the regiments belonging to +the East India Company; he was still only a boy, and his parents had +rather he had not gone entirely away from them so soon, for they felt, +and with some truth, that while he was at school he was at least under +their protection, if not their guidance. Hubert, however, came home to +them a fine noble-looking youth, delighted at the prospect before him, +and as proud and vain as possible at being at last really a soldier. How +much his parents loved him, and how they tried to persuade themselves +that the vivacity and recklessness he showed arose more from the +hilarity of a heart buoyant with youthful spirits, than from an evil +nature! but when, on the first Sabbath after his return home, he scoffed +at the manner in which they observed that holy day, another arrow +pierced their bosoms, another bitter drop fell into their cup of sorrow.</p> + +<p>During the three years Hubert had been at school, his parents had +gradually observed that, though he did perhaps attend to most of their +wishes, there was a careless sort of indifference<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> about him; and though +they were always glad to see him in his vacations, they were as glad to +see him go back to school, because their home was more peaceful, and +every one was happier when he was not there. Think of this, boys, +whoever you may be, that are reading this story, and when you spend a +short time with those kind parents who love you so much, let them see, +by your kindness and willing obedience, that you wish to love them as +much as they love you; and never let them have to say that their home is +happier when you are not there: no, rather let them rejoice at your +coming home, welcome you, and think of you as the bright light that +cheers every one in their dwelling; and if they can do that, be assured +that God will bless you.</p> + +<p>Only a fortnight's leave of absence had been granted to Hubert, and one +week had gone. The way in which he had spoken of sacred things, and of +the manner in which they had observed the Sabbath, roused his mother; +and though her reproof was gentle, she was earnest, and tried all she +could to influence him to better thoughts. She told him of the many +snares and dangers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> he would have to encounter, and the many temptations +that ever lurk along the path of youth; of the strange country to which +he was going; and of the doubly incurred danger of going forth in his +own strength. He listened as she talked to him; but along that way which +she so dreaded, all his hope and young imagination were centred, and he +grew restless and impatient to be gone.</p> + +<p>They were busy in Hubert's home; brothers and sisters all helped to +forward the things necessary for their eldest brother's future comfort, +and they sat later than usual round the fire the last night of his stay +with them; for everything was ready, and the mail-coach would take him +from them early on the morrow. The ship which was to convey Hubert to +India was to sail from Portsmouth, and as his father was in ill-health, +there was some concern in the family circle about his having to take the +journey alone; he promised, however, to write immediately he reached the +vessel, and so, with many a kiss and many a prayer, the family separated +for the night.</p> + +<p>It was a lovely autumn morning in the year 1792; everything round +Hubert's home looked beautiful,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> and his brothers and sisters, as they +clustered around him, and gave him their last kisses, each extorted a +promise that he would write a long letter to them very soon. Excitement +had driven off every regret at parting with him, and one young brother +ran off long before the time, to keep watch at the gate for the coach +coming.</p> + +<p>The time for Hubert to go drew near, and his father, infirm from recent +sickness, took his hand as he bade him farewell, and laying the other +upon his head, reminded him once more of lessons long ago taught, and +long ago forgotten; gave him again good counsel concerning his future +life; then pressed him earnestly to his heart, and prayed God to keep +him. Then came his mother; she had already poured out the deep sorrow +she felt at his leaving her, and had endeavoured to school herself to +the parting; without a word she threw her arms round his neck, and bent +her head for some minutes over him. "Oh, Hubert," she at length said, +"when sickness or trouble comes upon you, you will be far from home, and +there will be none of us, who love you so dearly, near to comfort you, +and no one to try and guide you right; but see here, I have a Bible; +take it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> treasure it as my last gift, and promise me that you will read +it every day. I care not how little you read, but promise that you will +read some: you will never regret it, and may it teach you the way to +heaven."</p> + +<p>"I <i>will</i> read it, mother; I wish I were as good as you are; I know I am +not like the others. Mother dear, don't cry; I will try and do as you +wish; good-bye!" and after kissing her affectionately he hurried from +the house.</p> + +<p>The coach was at the gate, round which the children gathered, and for a +few minutes every one seemed busy. The servant-man was there with +Hubert's trunk and a small leather bag; the nurse had come round from +the back garden with the baby; cook followed, and stood a little way +behind the gate with her arms half wrapped up in her apron; and the +housemaid stood at one of the open bed-room windows; while on the steps +of the door were his parents, joining in the farewell to the first-born. +Pilot, the house-dog, seemed to have some notion of the passing event, +for he had come to the gate too, and did not, as was his usual custom, +race and gambol with the children, but sat down amongst<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> them all, +apparently in a thoughtful mood. Hubert kissed his brothers and sisters, +and then took his seat amongst the passengers; then came many a +good-bye, and waving of handkerchiefs, and the coach rolled away.</p> + +<p>"He's gone," said his father, as the coach wended its way round the +hill. "Never mind, Mary; it was not for this we trained him, but we've +done our duty, I hope, in letting him go, for he was determined, and +would perhaps soon have taken his own way; poor lad! Perhaps amongst +strangers he will do better than with us; but I would sooner have buried +him—sooner, by far, have laid him in the churchyard—than he should +have taken this course. What is the use of trying to make children good? +Tears, prayers, self-denials, what is the use of them all, if the result +is like this?" So he murmured, and then bowed his head and wept, and his +wife, instead of receiving comfort from him, became the comforter; for, +putting her arm round his neck, she replied,</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, dear, our prayers and tears have brought us many blessings; +see the other children, how good they are; don't murmur. God may yet +bless us in Hubert; it is terrible to part with him in this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> way; but it +may yet be a blessing to us all: God knows." Then she sat down and wept +with her husband over this first great sorrow; and they <i>did</i> weep; they +and God alone knew the depth of the woe that had come upon them; the +first-born pride of their home and hearts going from them, perhaps for +ever, without one religious impression, or care for the future, was a +sorrow that none around could lighten, and they knelt down and prayed +fervently for that reckless son, and tried to feel a deeper trust in Him +who, though depriving them of one blessing, gave them many.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h2>TOO LATE FOR THE POST-BAG.</h2> + +<p> +Be wise to-day; 'tis madness to defer;<br /> +Next day the fatal precedent will plead;<br /> +Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out of life.<br /> +<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 9em;">Young.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>Meantime, Hubert went on his way, and a feeling of sadness came over him +after he lost sight of his home amongst the trees; for the thought had +come into his mind that perhaps he might never see it again. For a +moment his heart beat quickly, and he gave a deep sigh; then, putting +his hand into the leather bag, he was just going to take out his +mother's present to him, when a man, who sat opposite, said, "I suppose, +young soldier, you are off to join your regiment?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Hubert, with a smile; and as he drew his hand from the +bag, he continued, "we are ordered to the East Indies."</p> + +<p>"East Indies, eh? you'll soon see a little life, then; they tell me +there's plenty of fighting going<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> on out yonder, though we don't get +much of it in the newspaper. But you are very young?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm the youngest cadet in the regiment; I'm just turned fifteen; +but I shall be as brave as any of the others, I dare say: and I mean to +make as good a soldier."</p> + +<p>"No doubt of it," replied more than one of the passengers, and the +coachman, who had heard the conversation, cracked his whip, as he chimed +in, "Hear! hear! well done!" Then, as the coach rolled along over many a +mile, they talked of nothing but Hubert and the sphere of his future +existence. It feasted the boy's pride; and every other thought fled +away, and he forgot all about his home and his Bible.</p> + +<p>It was the morning of the third day since Hubert started, when, after +many changes and delays, the journey was almost ended, and in less than +an hour they would be in London.</p> + +<p>"Do you go to your ship at once?" inquired a gentleman who was seated +beside the coachman, and who had not only come all the journey with +Hubert, but who appeared particularly interested in him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I should like to go very much," replied the boy, "because I know no one +in London, though my leave of absence is not up till to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"My brother is captain of your vessel," said the stranger; "so, if you +like, we can go together, for I am on the way to say good-bye to him."</p> + +<p>Nothing could have suited Hubert better; so, upon leaving the coach, +which reached London as the clocks were striking five, they hurried off +to the street where the mail started for Portsmouth, and after +travelling all day they reached the vessel. How happy was Hubert that +night! what a joyous glow was on his cheek! Several of his old +companions were there, and not one of them appeared to have any sorrow +at leaving friends and home; they greeted each other with light hearts +and buoyant spirits, talked of the varied enjoyments of the past +holiday, and laughed loud and long, as they sat together in the +mess-room.</p> + +<p>Here and there, apart from the young ones, in nook and corner, or +leaning over the side of the vessel, an older head resting upon the +hand, told that with some, at least, the pang of parting from home and +dear ones had left its impress upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> heart of the soldier; and there +was one young lad, a stranger, only one month older than Hubert, seated +upon a coil of rope, weeping as though his heart would break. The little +cabin-boy, a child of eleven, tried to soothe him, but the sailors, as +they passed by, said, "Let him alone, boy, and he'll join his messmates +below all the sooner."</p> + +<p>Night closed at last, and for a few hours, at least, there was silence: +sleep may not have visited every pillow, but the loud laugh was hushed, +and the stillness of night rested upon the vessel.</p> + +<p>It was late the next morning when Hubert left his cabin; all was noise +and confusion; hundreds of soldiers were moving about, and Hubert, to +escape from the turmoil, was preparing to go ashore when a superior +officer touched him on the shoulder and desired him to remain in the +vessel. Hubert was vexed at the order, and sat down gloomily upon a +seat; the time, however, passed quickly by, and at noon, when the bugle +sounded to summon all visitors on deck, that they might be sent on +shore, he had forgotten his anger, and was one of the most cheerful +there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> + +<p>The friends were gone, all the partings were over, the gangways were +secured, and everything was ready. Wind and tide in favour, time was +precious, and the roll was called: every soldier, to a man, answered to +his name, and they gave three hearty cheers for King George, their +regiment, and Old England.</p> + +<p>"The ship will weigh anchor in less than an hour," said a voice close to +Hubert's ear, and, turning round, he saw the gentleman who had +accompanied him from his home.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how do you do?" said Hubert, shaking hands with him. "Do you sail +with us?"</p> + +<p>"No, only just a mile or so, then I shall return in a boat. Have you a +letter to your parents? if so, I shall be happy to post it for you."</p> + +<p>Hubert's face turned red: he had forgotten to write, and he replied, "I +have not a letter."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you have already sent one?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Hubert; "I mean no; I have not written; the ship sails so +soon, and I have been so engaged that I forgot."</p> + +<p>"Forgot?" said the stranger, retaining his hand. "What! forget to write +to those parents you may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> never see again? Come, my lad, that looks ill +in a soldier; take a friend's advice, and write a letter at once; if I +cannot take it, you will have an opportunity of sending it before many +days pass, and your parents must be anxious about you: try and remember +all the good counsels they gave you before you left, and never forget +them. Good-bye; remember what I say; good-bye."</p> + +<p>There was much warmth in the stranger's manner as he shook Hubert's +hand, into whose young heart every good resolution returned, and he +hastened to the cabin which he was to share with three other cadets. He +was silent and thoughtful as he unpacked his chest to find his writing +materials, and there the previous evening he had placed his Bible. As he +raised the lid, his eye fell upon his mother's last gift, and more +earnestly than before he determined upon writing a long letter. The +paper was found, and the writing-desk, which a dear little sister had +given him, was opened, when in rushed the three noisy companions of his +cabin, and made so much disturbance that he found it impossible to +write; so, thinking that he should have plenty of time "to-morrow," he +put his things<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> back again into his chest, and became as noisy as the +others. Another opportunity was lost, another good resolution broken, +for the society of noisy and riotous companions; and it may be that the +many evils and sorrows of his after-life were but the fruits of his +neglecting this first great duty. Had he remembered his parents and +their counsels, and cherished the little germ of goodness that was +springing up in his heart, heavenly dews might have descended upon the +flower, and kept him from the ways of evil.</p> + +<p>The vessel at last set sail, and order was restored. Hubert was upon +deck, and as he looked over the side of the ship, and saw the white +cliffs of his country fading from his view, he for once felt +lonely—felt he was leaving all he loved, and he wished he had written +home.</p> + +<p>"Just a line: I might do it now," he said to himself. He found, however, +upon turning to go below, that he would be required to perform one of +his military duties almost immediately, so that he could not write then; +and he felt such a mixture of sorrow and vexation, that the feelings of +the boy mocked, as it were, the dress he wore; and, leaning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> his head +over the side of the ship, more than one large tear mingled with the +waters of the deep.</p> + +<p>Their first night at sea came on: how calm and beautiful it was! there +was scarcely a ripple upon the ocean; the bright stars in the high vault +of heaven looked down like so many gentle friends upon the eyes that +gazed up at them, and the pale moonbeams lighted up the pathway for +those wanderers on the waters. Hubert was not happy; many, many times he +fancied he could hear his mother speaking to him, and he would have +given much if he had only written to her. It was then he again +remembered his Bible, and the promise to read it, which promise he now +determined to perform, and as soon as he could conveniently go to his +cabin, he did so, opened his chest, and took out the book, intending to +read.</p> + +<p>"How small it is," he thought, "and how pretty!" Then he turned over +leaf by leaf; he knew not where to begin: he could remember nothing at +all about it, and it ended in his putting it back in his chest and going +to his bed. Sleep soon silenced every thought, no letter was written<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +home, not a word of the Bible was read, promise and resolutions had +passed away with his sorrow, and Hubert little thought, as he silenced +the monitor within, how hard it would be to return to the duty he was +neglecting.</p> + +<p>The ship had now been a fortnight at sea; it had passed through the Bay +of Biscay, and was off the coast of Portugal, when the soldiers were +informed that in about an hour a vessel would pass very near to them; +and, as the sea was calm, a boat would leave in forty minutes to carry +letters for England to the passing ship.</p> + +<p>"Forty minutes," said Hubert aloud, and apparently pleased, for he +hurried off, as many more did, to avail themselves of the opportunity of +writing home. Forty minutes, however, was too long a time for Hubert, +and he returned again to the deck, to seek a companion and inquire what +he intended to do, before he sat down to write himself. Thoughts of +neglected duty and unkindness to his parents had frequently disturbed +Hubert's mind; try as he would to sweep every remembrance of his +disobedience away, the thought would come that he had not done right;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +but, instead of sorrowing and making an effort to repair the ill he had +done, he tried to persuade himself that he was cowardly in giving way to +his feelings; so he endeavoured to smother the rising affection that +stole upon him during the first few days he was upon the sea, and the +result was that he became more reckless than ever.</p> + +<p>"Letters ready?" all at once startled Hubert, as he stood talking to his +companion upon the deck: there was the man with the bag collecting them, +and his was not written. The bag was sealed, the boat was pushed off, +the last chance, probably for months, was gone, and, as he began to hum +a tune, he walked away to the other end of the ship. He looked over the +side, and a momentary feeling of vexation came over him as he saw the +little boat carrying its treasure, its bag of home letters; but he was +learning now to defy his conscience, and sang louder the snatch of song +that rushed to his aid, and seemed to be all he wanted to throw back the +better feelings of his heart.</p> + +<p>Many weeks had passed since that noble vessel left England; its white +sails were still spread in the breeze, and it was wafted on over the +sea.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> Hubert had tried very hard to forget all about his home; the +recollections of it were not pleasant, they were too accusing for him to +indulge in; there was a holiness about it which ill-accorded with the +life he was leading, and the effort he continually made to suppress +every thought of it frequently caused him to fall deeper into sin.</p> + +<p>One night, when in the height of glee in the mess-room, when songs were +being sung, and the giddy laugh rang out upon the silent waters, and +Hubert was joining fully in the mirth of his comrades, he suddenly +remembered that he had in his chest a book of sea-songs, and hastened +away to get it. He knew pretty well where to put his hand upon it; so, +when he reached his cabin, he never thought of lighting his little lamp, +but knelt down beside his chest in the dark. It was scarcely the work of +a minute; his chest was re-locked, and he skipped away back to the +mess-room; his hand was upon the door, when all at once his eye fell +upon the book he had brought; it was not the one he had intended to +bring—it was not the song-book, but the Bible. He started when he saw +what he had; and how was it that a sudden chill sped like light<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>ning +over him? How was it that on that sultry night he felt so cold? His hand +trembled, his heart beat quickly, but the tempter was by his side, and +he gave utterance to many an evil thought as he turned back to change +that unwelcome treasure.</p> + +<p>The Bible was exchanged for the song-book, and Hubert was again with his +comrades, where he became more riotous than before, and was nearly the +last to retire to rest.</p> + +<p>There was silence once more in the ship, for it was midnight, and all +except the few who kept the night-watch were sleeping. Hubert had +perhaps fallen asleep as soon as any of his companions, but his rest was +short, for he started up in alarm. He tried to remember what it was that +had disturbed him, but could not. He looked around to see if either of +his comrades were moving, but their deep, heavy breathing told him they +slept; and then he lay down again in his own berth. There, in that still +hour, as he listened to the soft wind passing through the rigging, and +the slow measured tread of the sentinels on deck, he all at once thought +of his English home, thought of his broken faith with his mother, +thought of his Bible.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is no use," he said aloud, "I cannot alter it now; how I wish I had +but just written home! fool that I was not to do so; and that book, how +I wish she had never given it to me; it will make me a coward: in fact +it does; I never go to my chest, but there it is; I'll burn it—I'll +throw it away; how I wish I had never had it!" and he struck the side of +his berth with his clenched fist as he spoke.</p> + +<p>There was no voice in that little cabin to answer or direct Hubert in +his outburst of passionate feeling; and, as he looked around at his +sleeping comrades, he crept softly from his berth, and went and knelt +down by his chest. The moon shone brightly through the tiny cabin +window, and as he knelt by his chest he could see very well everything +around him. He took out his Bible, and gazed wildly at it for a moment, +scarce knowing what next to do; then rising as if a sudden thought had +struck him, he tried to open the window that he might throw it into the +sea: it was, however, too secure to open at his will, and, turning away +after a fruitless effort, he sought a place to hide it. "Where shall I +hide it?" he said, as he walked round and round his cabin;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> there was no +nook or corner into which he could thrust it so that it should never +meet his eye again. What could he do with it? He must wait for another +opportunity; so, taking out nearly everything in his chest, he thrust it +down into the farthest corner, heaped all his things upon it, made them +secure, and then returned to his bed. The excitement of the moment was +over, yet Hubert could not rest, and, as he turned himself upon his +uneasy bed, he never once regretted the wicked thought that had led him +to try and throw away his Bible; but the determination to dispose of it +grew stronger.</p> + +<p>Some weeks after this little event, the regiment arrived in India, and +was ordered far up the country: the long, toilsome march which Hubert +now had to undergo, initiated him into some of the realities of a +soldier's life, and it was not long before he found that the career he +had chosen was not so full of enjoyment as he had anticipated. He very +often felt weary; the heat of the country depressed his spirits; and he +often sighed deeply as he remembered the pleasant hills and valleys of +his own land. The regiment had no sooner located itself in the new +station,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> than Hubert and many others were struck down with fever. Death +was busy amongst them, but the young prodigal was spared. Many a time he +had wished to die; sick and amongst strangers, his mother's words had +come home to him with double power, and he felt the bitter truth that +there was indeed none who loved him, none to comfort him; it was a +wonder he lived, for the fever was malignant, and the care bestowed upon +the sick very little indeed. Poor Hubert! how was it he could not die? +Young as he was, this illness taught him the sad lesson that where there +is no love or interest there is an inhumanity in man; and as he grew +better his heart became more hardened, for he began to cherish a hatred +towards every one around him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h2>THE BIBLE TORN.</h2> + +<p> +Within this awful volume lies<br /> +The mystery of mysteries;<br /> +And better he had ne'er been born<br /> +Who reads to doubt or reads to scorn.—<span class="smcap">Scott.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>We must pass over a few years. Hubert had overcome the effects of the +climate, and the many dangers to which he had been exposed, helped, as +they ever will, the heart, uninfluenced by religion, to make him more +reckless and daring. Away from his sight, at the bottom of his chest, +undisturbed, lay his Bible; beside it, too, lay his sister's desk, and +the writing materials his mother had carefully packed for him: he seldom +thought of the fond ones who had given him those things; but far away in +England they ever thought of him, and watched and wept for a letter.</p> + +<p>Hubert's regiment had seen a great deal of service, and it had not been +his lot to escape the dangers of war. On one occasion he had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +overcome and taken prisoner by some natives, and was only saved from +being put to death in a cruel manner by an unexpected attack being made +upon these Hindoos by a neighbouring chief, to repulse which they left +Hubert and two of his companions in the care of some women, from whom +they were rescued by a company of his regiment who had come out to +search for him. In a few hours the attempt to save Hubert would have +been in vain, for the Hindoos, hating the English, seldom allowed much +time to elapse between the capture and the sacrifice. Many a narrow +escape besides this, and many a wound—some slight and some +severe—dotted the pathway of Hubert's life; and the seventh year of his +residence in India was drawing to a close. The hot season had been +unusually oppressive; nearly every disease which flesh is heir to had +made fearful ravages amongst the soldiers, and Hubert was a second time +struck down with fever. Mercy once again interposed, and, like the +barren fig-tree, he was spared, that another opportunity might be given +him to bear fruit. One morning, when he was getting better, the hospital +nurse came to him with a letter in her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> hand, and asked if he thought it +was for him; he took it from her, and for a few moments did not answer +her: his heart smote him; but though his illness had slightly subdued +him, he was old in sin, and had learnt how to overcome all feelings of +tenderness; so, striving to check the thoughts that were forcing their +way, he began to examine the postmarks and various written notices upon +the outside of the letter; he soon found how far it had travelled in +search of him, and now it was by a mere chance that he had received it.</p> + +<p>"Why was this letter not sent after me?" inquired Hubert.</p> + +<p>"Be thankful, sir, that you have received it now," said the nurse. "It +has travelled after you a great way; but your regiment has been so much +on the move that I am not surprised at its being delayed. I have seen it +on the letter-rack more than eight months, and several others with it, +and you would not have had it now if I had not remembered you."</p> + +<p>"Why, where did you see me before?"</p> + +<p>"I nursed poor Captain White in the hospital at Jansi, and I knew you by +your coming so often to see him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I did not remember you."</p> + +<p>"No, sir, perhaps not; but I did you, though it was only this morning +that I remembered anything about the letter, and that is how it is they +often get delayed: they are given to people very often, to send on, who +know nothing at all about them, and so they get put on one side, and +sometimes forgotten altogether. I suppose that was sent here because +someone knew that when you were stationed here a year ago, you were in +hospital with jaundice, and here it has been ever since."</p> + +<p>"It is high time things were altered, then," replied Hubert, "if this is +how the letters are treated."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, it is," said the nurse; "but you don't seem very anxious to +read your letter, now you have it."</p> + +<p>Hubert said no more. Anxious indeed he was to know what that letter +contained, but fearful to open it; the battle, everything indeed in +warfare he could face with boldness, but before that silent, soiled, +fairy-like packet in his hand his whole nature quailed. Had he been +alone, perhaps he would not have opened it at all; but the eye of +another was upon him, and perhaps it was to save betrayal that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> he broke +the seal. It was from his father; there was nothing reproachful in it, +but a great deal of news about the family and their affectionate +remembrance of him; a long account of letters written, and their fears +that they had not reached him; then an earnest pleading that if he +received that he would write to them immediately, for their anxiety and +disappointment were very great.</p> + +<p>Hubert read his letter several times; it was not the first he had +received, though perhaps it was the first that he really felt anxious to +answer; but he was too much out of health to reply to it then. It was +frequently a silent companion to him during the remainder of his stay in +the hospital, though when he grew better and returned again to his old +companions, somehow his father's letter was forgotten.</p> + +<p>Hubert's illness had no effect upon him for good; it was sent, no doubt +in mercy, to check, at least for a time, the career he was running; but +health had returned, and so had he to his evil habits. Not one thought +did he ever willingly give to his parents, or the good precepts they had +tried to teach him; but when at times a few lines of a hymn, or a few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +words of an early learnt prayer, would, in spite of all his efforts, +come across his mind, he had become so bold in sin that he cursed the +intruding memory of his purer days.</p> + +<p>How little that young soldier thought of the merciful providence that +was watching over him! And it was doubtless in answer to his parents' +prayers that the little snatches of his early lessons were allowed to +intrude so repeatedly upon him, to bring him back, if possible, to a +better life. Take courage, mothers, even though the seed now sown seems +to perish as it falls; and continue to store up in the little mind +passages of holy writ, the simple prayer, and the childish hymn; long, +long may the soil remain barren, but a distant storm-cloud may shed its +torrents there, and then the fruit of thy labours may return like the +autumn grain, and ye shall reap, if ye faint not.</p> + +<p>Hubert had grown very handsome, military fortune had smiled upon him, +and he had risen to be first lieutenant of his regiment Good abilities, +and great intelligence, with his merry, cheerful disposition, had won +him many favours; but those qualities were at the same time the snares<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +in his path: they were misapplied and misdirected, and too often were +the cause of his deepest errors.</p> + +<p>One night, about nine years after Hubert had left England, he sat alone +in his room, with a heavier heart than he had ever before endured. His +sword lay upon the floor, part of his soldier's dress was thrown +carelessly upon a chair, a glass jug of water and a bottle were upon the +table, a loose grey cloak was wrapped around him, and his arm was in a +sling; he had been in battle that day, and severely cut upon the +shoulder; the doctor had attended to him and bound up the wound, and +Hubert, sick and dispirited, lounged in his easy chair in gloomy +silence. The doctor had tried to persuade him to go to bed, and Hubert +had promised to do so; but as soon as he was gone, the servant man was +dismissed from the room, and Hubert began to think. They must have been +terrible thoughts that could have produced such a look of despair; they +were not, however, about his wounded shoulder, nor the dangers he had +that day encountered; neither were they of his parents, to whom, in a +few months, the news of the battle would probably find its way. It was +altogether another matter which troubled him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>A companion, a fellow officer—the little lad who seated himself upon +the coil of rope and wept such tears as the vessel left England—had +grown up to manhood with Hubert, and had that morning gone out with him +to battle; they were full of spirit when they went, and for some time +fought nearly side by side; but there came unexpectedly a terrible +volley of shot from a portion of the enemy that lay concealed behind +some dense brushwood. Hubert's ranks were thinned, and, as he turned +round to rally and command his men, he missed his friend. It was a +critical moment; every energy and thought was required for the fight; so +that a glance behind, and a fleeting pang lest he had fallen, were all +that circumstances allowed, and Hubert rushed on.</p> + +<p>The battle was won, the soldiers were returning, and Hubert was wounded; +he had made inquiry for his friend, but could hear nothing. As they +wound their way along, however, by the hill-side where the volley had +been fired, his heart beat quickly, for his own wound had made him feel +weak, and he could scarcely speak, when he saw two soldiers bending over +something lying on the grass. All his fears were realized as he slowly +came up to the scene;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> for there, stretched upon the ground, lay his +companion, dead. Oh! how the sight overcame him. If man is capable of +loving man, it was exemplified in Hubert; for his heart had deeply +entwined itself round his hapless comrade, and his first impulse was to +kneel beside him, and with his unwounded arm press him to his bosom as +he wept over his pallid brow. No thought, however, of the mercy which +had kept him from a similar fate came into his mind; no prayer of +thankfulness went up from his heart; but sorrowful and ill, he left his +friend, and leaning between the two soldiers, he at last, after great +difficulty, reached his quarters. After Hubert had been attended to by +the doctor, a second thought took the place of the first pure one; and, +as he sat alone, instead of pouring out his heart in deep gratitude to +his Almighty Preserver, he became irritated and angry, and amongst the +many thoughts that crowded upon him he remembered that his poor dead +companion was deeply in his debt. Much of their time had been spent +together at the gaming-table, and only a few evenings before, Hubert had +lent his companion all the money he had by him, including his last +month's pay; since then, Hubert<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> had gambled, and been unsuccessful, and +had become involved for a considerable amount, which he had promised to +pay in a week; but his companion, who owed him sufficient to pay the +debt, was killed, and the difficulty into which he was suddenly plunged +drove him almost to despair.</p> + +<p>"What shall I do?" he said, as he passionately struck the table; and +then, in the height of his frenzy, he said many bitter, cruel things +about his poor guilty companion who lay dead upon his bed in the +adjoining room.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what shall I do?" he said again; and for some minutes he sat still, +gazing with a vacant stare upon the floor; then, as if moved by a sudden +impulse, he slowly rose from his chair, and, going into his bed-room, he +knelt down by his chest, intending to get some writing paper, that he +might reckon up all he owed, and see how far his own resources would +help him. Perhaps he was too absorbed to think of what he was doing, for +he took out a small parcel, and then, after replacing the things in his +chest, he went and sat down by the table. For some minutes he sat with +his face covered with his hands, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> though he were in deep thought; +then he muttered something, and, snatching up the parcel, he broke the +string that tied it; one sharp pull drew the paper away, when out upon +the table fell his Bible. "Fool, to bring that!" he said, and then he +dashed it to the other end of the room. In striking the Bible it came +open, and as it came in contact with the corner of a chair two of its +leaves were torn out. There was a slight momentary regret in Hubert's +heart, when he found what he had done: he hated the book, and could not +bear it in his sight; and though he would have been glad to have been +rid of it, he never thought, nor perhaps ever intended destroying it in +that way, and he stepped across the room to gather it all up. Much of +his passion subsided as he sat down and tried to replace the torn +leaves. The days, however, had long since passed when he was accustomed +to read his Bible; he was now not only unfamiliar with that sacred book, +but all that he once knew appeared to have gone from his memory; and +though he turned over and over again one portion after another, to find +the part in Ezekiel from which the pages had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> been torn, it was of no +use, he could not replace them; so, with a nervous hand, he thrust them +into his pocket, and took the torn Bible back to his chest.</p> + +<p>This little incident, though it produced no reflection, subdued for a +time the excitement under which he was labouring; and though he +disregarded the unseen hand that was dealing so mysteriously with him, +the first outburst of bad feeling respecting the difficulty into which +he had fallen by the death of his gambling companion was over, and, +leaving his room, he walked with gentle step to the one in which his +dead comrade lay. The years of folly and sin which Hubert had passed had +not quite dried up all the fountains of his heart; one of them, at +least, was flowing afresh as he closed the door and went up to the +remains of his dead friend. He raised the sheet which had been spread +over the corpse, and breathed the words, "Oh, poor Harris!" as he gazed +upon the once joyous face; then, sitting down beside him, he laid his +hand upon the cold forehead and wept as he had not done since his +childhood. He had seen death in many forms, and this was not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> the first +time he had lost a companion; but neither tear nor sigh had followed the +death of any one before: but for poor Harris, how he wept! Hubert had +loved him well. Death, which before had no effect upon him, overwhelmed +him now, and it was not until his own wounded arm grew very painful, +from the effects of touching the cold dead, that he rose to go away. +Harris was to be buried early on the morrow, and Hubert felt such a +strange bitterness at parting that he could scarcely go; but at last, +bending over him, he pressed one long, fervent kiss upon the silent lips +and turned away.</p> + +<p>In passing along near the door, his eye caught what he thought to be a +piece of folded paper lying near the clothes of his friend; he picked it +up, and, upon opening it, found it to be a note from poor Harris—a few +lines written by him in pencil, as he lay dying upon the field of +battle; and there was not much upon the paper, but there was enough. +Poor Harris, in that brief note, begged the finder to convey the sad +story of his death to his mother, and tell her how bitterly he repented +having so long forgotten her; that he begged her to forgive him, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +earnestly implored the Lord Jesus to have mercy upon him; then came the +words—evidently written by a trembling hand—"Comrade, turn and repent; +not a moment may be given to you; tell Hubert Goodwin I am dead: he must +meet me again."</p> + +<p>Hubert had never felt before what he did as he read that note—written +as the life-blood wasted, and he the subject of it; how he trembled, +bold, daring soldier that he was! it was the voice from the dead; and at +first he felt cold—so cold: his teeth chattered, and then a sudden heat +rushed over him, and the perspiration trickled down his face; his bosom +swelled, his breath grew short; at length, a long, deep groan burst from +his overcharged heart, and he went to his own room. Long, very long, +silent and alone, Hubert sat in his dreary chamber; there were but few +sounds without, and nothing but sighs and groans broke the stillness +within; the words on that blood-spotted note touched him deeply, struck +many a note of discord in his heart, tore into shreds the cloak of sin +and guilt he had worn so long, and exposed to him the part he had taken +in dragging his companion, once a pure, noble-hearted, susceptible boy, +down deep into the villanies of his own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> dissipated life. And he was to +meet him again—where?</p> + +<p>The teaching of his childhood had not been in vain; the bread cast upon +the waters had not all perished; conscience whispered the truth, and +Hubert knew where he should meet Harris. The soldier's head bowed; he +felt he could not, he dare not, meet the soul he had ruined; the thought +of the terrible record against him broke down his spirit. "Great God!" +as he glanced upward, was all he uttered, in his despair, and his head +drooped again in deep anguish upon his bosom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h2>ELLEN BUCHAN.</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 9em;">She was the pride</span><br /> +Of her familiar sphere,—the daily joy<br /> +Of all who on her gracefulness might gaze,<br /> +And in the light and music of her way<br /> +Have a companion's portion. Who could feel,<br /> +While looking upon beauty such as hers,<br /> +That it would ever perish?—<span class="smcap">Willis.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>That night, and for many days, Hubert knew no peace; sleeping or waking, +Harris was ever in his thoughts; turn where he would, there was a +remembrance of his dead companion, the loss of whom he deeply mourned. +Out of health himself, his bereavement was more felt, especially as he +was unable to seek other comrades with whom he might drive gloomy +thoughts away. At other times, when he had been ill, Harris had ever +sought him; but now, no one save those who waited upon him entered his +room, and he began to hate the sound of their footsteps, because he felt +that he paid for their sympathy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>. Poor Harris! how he missed him; how +long the days seemed, and how slow his recovery! Who shall say it was +not an opportunity vouchsafed by the Almighty to bring back his own +wandering soul? Why did he not pray in his hours of distress? No; the +heart long used to the neglect of that holy privilege and duty but ill +knows how to fly to the throne of grace in the hour of woe, and too +often throws back the hand of God with ungrateful murmurings. Hubert +never once poured out his burden of distress, never once looked to that +loving God whose eye, notwithstanding his wickedness, watched over him +with a father's love, but fretted and repined at the calamity which had +befallen him, until every pure and good feeling fled away once more, and +he began to be as cold and callous about the death of poor Harris as he +was about other things.</p> + +<p>Time, the great soother of woe in the human heart, threw its power over +Hubert; as it passed, it brought him returning health, and, once again +mingling in the busy scenes of his profession, the wounded arm, the dead +companion, and the warning, all shared the doom of the other events of +his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> life: they were gone, and he was happy in forgetting them. The +difficulty into which he had fallen with respect to his money matters, +however, taught him a lesson; and though he again joined the society of +many of his former companions, he never again fell into that terrible +vice which had so nearly ruined his worldly prospects.</p> + +<p>Some weeks had passed away; all the little effects belonging to poor +Harris were being collected, for the captain of his company had found +amongst some letters the names of some of the poor fellow's relations in +England. Hubert heard of what was being done, and one morning, meeting +the doctor of the regiment, they began talking the matter over. "I can +tell you where his mother lives," said Hubert, "if you will step into my +rooms; for now I remember it, I have by me a little note for her,—at +least I have her address upon it."</p> + +<p>They walked along together, talking of various matters, and having +reached Hubert's rooms he took from a little desk a small piece of +paper, and, without a thought, said, as he handed it to the doctor, "I +think you'll find it on that."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<p>The doctor read the note, and as he did so a sad expression stole over +his face, and then, looking at Hubert, he said, "Oh, Goodwin, what a +letter! Poor Harris! What a warning for us all. And what an escape you +had; the ball passed you, but it pierced his lungs. It might have been +your lot; though I trust a better account than this would have been sent +home of you."</p> + +<p>"Come now, doctor, no preaching; I cannot tell what account will be +given of me when I'm knocked off."</p> + +<p>"A true one, I have no doubt," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so; but I don't care what people say; I do my duty, no one can +deny that, and soldiers can't be preachers."</p> + +<p>"But they can be Christians, and find as much need of the Bible as the +sword. As much! Ah! more; it is a double weapon, a sword and a shield: +try it, Goodwin, if you never have, and see if I am not correct. If any +man is in heaven, my father is; he was thirty-four years a soldier, +fought in forty-one battles, and had as many wounds. And what preserved +him? What made him go cheerfully through all the trials of a soldier's +life? What<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> made his name honoured and respected, as you yourself have +often observed? Was it the battles he fought, or the fame he won? No. He +read his Bible every day of his life, and tried to live as that holy +book says men ought to live. He infused, by God's help, the same spirit +into his company, and many a year must roll by before the words, 'Good +Captain Martin,' will cease to be heard; and the influence of his +example will linger still longer. No one can tell the power of example; +and it is a serious reflection that we each have to answer for the +amount we exercise over our fellow creatures."</p> + +<p>Hubert had thrown himself into an easy chain, and, with his hands thrust +into his pockets, he silently listened to the doctor; but now he +replied: "But surely we cannot possibly help persons imitating what we +do. I don't see that we are to be responsible for the folly and evil +deeds of others."</p> + +<p>"Certainly not, Goodwin; but still, how can we be sure that our conduct +has not caused many of the deeds you mention? Thousands of noble-hearted +pure-minded youths who have entered the army have been ruined, both in +body and soul, by the example of some wicked comrade."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you refer to Harris?" asked Hubert, starting up from his seat; +"because if you do, I may tell you at once that I am not going to be +accused of anything he did. If he chose to make a fool of himself, it is +nothing to me: my conscience is clear."</p> + +<p>"I refer to truth," said the doctor, "and my own experience; and if we +would only ask ourselves how far our conduct will affect those around +us, we should be better men. Man <i>will</i> imitate, and it is what he +imitates that ennobles or debases him; it is example which has filled +the heart of man with all that is good and noble, and it has also helped +to make up long catalogues of crime. Our blessed Saviour knew the power +of it when He said to His disciples, 'Be ye perfect, as I am perfect.'"</p> + +<p>The calm and gentle manner of the doctor subdued Hubert's rising anger, +and as he listened to him <i>he</i> also felt the deep power of example. +Before any other man who had dared to refer to Harris, as his heart told +him the doctor had done, he would have given way to the passion which +his guilty conscience prompted; but there was an overpowering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> influence +in the calm demeanour of that good man, which Hubert felt; and when he +was gone the room seemed very lonely, and Hubert paced it with rapid +stride, as he thought over the past: the life he had led and was still +leading, the dead Harris, and the warning note smote upon his memory, +and he wished—oh, how earnestly he wished!—that he were but half like +that good man who had just left him. It was a difficult matter, however, +for Hubert to profit much by what had transpired; the wish to lead a +better life was earnest enough, but old habits and evil associates had +forged their chains of fascination round him, and he went out to seek +company which would soon snap the silver cord of purity that was +beginning once more to form holy tracery on his heart.</p> + +<p>Thus it ever is with the heart that is continually striving against the +influences and power of the Spirit. To keep down the still small voice +of conscience, nothing is so effectual as the whirlwind of pleasure, and +man runs headlong from one sin to another, until the fatal hour dawns +when God's Spirit will no longer strive. Repeated warnings disregarded, +and opportunities neglected, ruined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> Hubert's better nature: in scenes +of dissipation the germs of holiness perished, and he sank down deep, +deeper still into sin, growing older in wickedness as he grew stronger +in manhood, belying, as many do, the noble image on his brow by the mark +of <i>Cain</i> upon his heart.</p> + +<p>It was seldom that the regiment to which Hubert belonged remained longer +than a few years in one place, so that his stock of worldly possessions +had not greatly increased; but it was eighteen years since he left home, +and he was now about changing into another regiment, one more stationary +than his own, and marrying the daughter of an old English resident at +Agra. During the time Hubert had been in India, he had experienced many +vicissitudes often marching through the country, often in battle, and +occasionally sick and in hospital. He had grown from the pretty rosy boy +to a tall, dark sunburnt man, and was now a captain. In military things +he had improved; but though of those who went out with him to India more +than half had either fallen in battle or died of disease, nothing +softened his heart, and it was a wicked boast he frequently made in the +mess-room, that when he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> was unable to fight any longer he would think +about going home and being religious. Thus he went on wasting the vigour +of his life, tempting by his blasphemy the merciful God that was sparing +him, neglecting every opportunity for repentance, and occasionally +tearing up his Bible.</p> + +<p>The doctor, who had been nearly the same time in the regiment that +Hubert had, but who in age was ten years his senior, never lost an +opportunity of trying to influence the soldiers for good. Many a rebuff +was the reward of the good man's efforts, but he never wearied. Hubert, +though he listened to him once, had grown vain with his military +promotion, and shunned the good man who had once brought his heart near +to heaven. Dr. Martin, however, never lost sight of the reckless sinner, +but breathed many a sigh as he thought of one so gifted, and placed so +far above the wants of life, rushing fast to his ruin; and then he +prayed, with all the earnestness of a devoted heart, that God's Spirit +would stay him in his course of sin.</p> + +<p>Like a gleam of light upon a darkened object came the intelligence that +Hubert was about to be married to Ellen Buchan. Nearly every one in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +Agra knew her, and there were but few who did not also know how good she +was; she and her family were distinguished for their piety, and many a +darkened soul in the idolatrous city where they resided learnt by their +teaching and example to place Christianity above the idol-worship of +their childhood, and became followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. +Surely such companionship as Ellen Buchan would be a blessing to Hubert, +and a change must come upon him, else he would be no helpmate for one so +good as she was; and the doctor wondered whether a change had not +already come over him, by his having expressed an intention of moving +into another regiment.</p> + +<p>How fervently he hoped that it might be so; and though he now seldom +exchanged a word with Hubert, he did not forget him, but still hoped +that he might lead a better life. Imperceptibly to Hubert, a change had +indeed stolen over him since he knew Ellen; many of his old haunts were +forsaken, former friends were given up, and Hubert had something to bear +from the taunting words and manners of his old associates; but he had +other thoughts, new habits were being formed, life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> had a thousand +charms, and his face beamed more joyous and more handsome every day; his +chief desire was to sell out, and purchase in the regiment stationed at +Agra. A few disappointments attended Hubert's change of regiment: it was +delayed longer than he had expected; still, the matter was now, to all +appearance, nearly settled, and preparations were being made for the +marriage. If Hubert had ever been thoroughly happy, he appeared so now: +his past life, with all its associations, was absorbed in the present, +in Ellen every thought was centred.</p> + +<p>Alas! how frail are man's hopes. One sultry evening a messenger came to +tell Hubert to come at once to Mr. Buchan's, for something had happened.</p> + +<p>With a beating heart and hurried step he hastened to the house, but +there was sorrow there. Ellen had been complaining all day, and, as the +evening drew on, her illness increased, and she was found to be +suffering from fever. Hubert was frightened, for the fever had been +prevalent, and frequently fatal. That night and the next day he stayed +at the house, and then, how dreadful came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> the intelligence that her +life was despaired of! Now Hubert felt, perhaps for the first time in +his life, the bitter woe of hopes all crushed; for the thought of losing +Ellen was terrible. What could he do! All around him was a scene of woe. +Changed he apparently was in his conduct and habits, but his heart was +the same, and his sorrow gave way to murmuring and raving about the +affliction. How earnestly he hoped for her recovery, yet how unchastened +was his spirit! for upon meeting Dr. Martin, who, after inquiring about +Ellen, added kindly, "I hope, if only for your sake, she will recover," +he replied sharply, "Sir, you hope nothing of the kind; if she dies you +will upbraid and taunt me." Unjust and cruel as this remark was, the +doctor pitied and forgave him, and stood gazing after him as he turned +away.</p> + +<p>Ellen died. We need not tell the deep bereavement it was to all who +loved her. Reader! it matters nothing to thee; but there was a home made +desolate, and more than one heart riven. Such is life! A time will come +when the deep mystery of such dealings shall be explained; till then, +hope on! trust on! believe on! Satan would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> tempt thee in the weak, +trying hour to doubt, but remember God does not willingly afflict; the +finest gold has been seven times purified, and happy is he who can look +upward, even though it be through his tears, and say, "It is thy will, +Lord; do with me as it seemeth thee good."</p> + +<p>All who knew Hubert pitied him under the deep affliction which had +befallen him, and for a time his spirit bowed beneath it; he overcame +it, however, sooner than many had expected, joined himself again to many +of his old companions, and gave up all intention of selling out of his +regiment, and very soon he bade farewell to the friends he had made in +Agra, and moved with his regiment to a station further up the country.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h2>HUBERT WOUNDED.</h2> + +<p> +On comes the foe—to arms, to aims,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We meet—'tis to death or glory;</span><br /> +'Tis victory in all her charms,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or fame in Britain's story.—<span class="smcap">W. Smyth.</span></span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>Three more years passed away: it had been a trying time, for a native +tribe near a neighbouring jungle gave Hubert's regiment continual +trouble; and now orders were received at the barracks to prepare for a +battle, for large numbers of Hindoos were coming down from the hills, +and several British regiments were on the march to assist the station +that was menaced.</p> + +<p>Hubert received the order, and gave it out again to his company, and +then, without another word went to his rooms. It was not his usual way: +he generally said something in praise of British bravery, and tried to +inspire his men to action; but this time he was silent, and the soldiers +did not let it pass without remark<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>.</p> + +<p>Never before had the order for battle been less welcome, and he was +unable to account for the strange depression of his spirits; he joined +none of his companions, but sat the whole evening by himself, and +retired to rest much earlier than usual. His sleep, however, was +disturbed, and once, in the still hour of night, he said aloud, "What +ails me, that I cannot sleep? I am not ill: I wonder if anything is to +happen to me—surely not; after nearly twenty-two years' service, I am +to have better luck than be knocked off now; it is a pretty safe thing, +they say, if one gets over the twentieth year. I shall see Old England +yet." No more sleep, however, came to him; he thought of his home, his +parents, and all to whom he had been dear, and he sighed deeply as he +wished he had loved them better.</p> + +<p>The morning sun had scarcely risen before the bugle sounded, and in a +very short time the regiment was on the march, for they had six miles to +go, and the heat would be against them later in the day.</p> + +<p>On the previous evening, Hubert had passed some of the dull hours in +looking over the little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> relics he had collected during his residence in +India, and in filling up the box he had brought with him from England, +he took out the remains of his Bible; it was sadly destroyed; the +covers, some of the Old, and the greater part of the New Testament, were +what remained of it, and after hesitating for a few minutes what he +should do with it, he thrust it into a pocket in the left side of the +bosom of his coat. It was there still; he had forgotten to remove it +when he rose hastily at the sound of the bugle, and as he marched with +his regiment, he little thought of the blessing which that torn, +despised treasure would yet be to him. It was a long, toilsome march, +through thick jungle, and the soldiers sat down to rest when they got +through it, and waited to be joined by other forces. They had come out +against a considerable village, the residence of a great chief, but not +so well fortified by architectural defences as by the hordes of its +savage inhabitants. From the spot where the soldiers rested they could +see the place they had come to attack, and as the day was passing +without the other regiments appearing, a council was held, and beneath +the shadow of the palm trees<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> the soldiers received orders to remain +quiet until new commands were issued.</p> + +<p>The day at length was closing, and Hubert, with three brother officers, +sat down beneath a tree together. At first they talked of the glory in +fighting for their king and country, then other matters connected with +military life followed; but as the time passed away, and the hours of +night brought with them their fitful gloom, the conversation changed, +and for the first time for many years Hubert talked of his home.</p> + +<p>"It is a long time since I left England," he said; "many, many a year; +and I have somehow neglected all my old friends there. I often wish I +had acted differently, and thought a little more about them, and written +to them sometimes; but it is no use regretting—not that I have much to +regret, though, for letter-writing is a silly, dawdling business at +best, and never was much in my way; but, however, should it so happen +to-morrow that the chances run against me—you know what I mean—well, +there's some one of the family left, perhaps, who will like to know the +end of me; so let me ask a favour. Take this slip of paper, and if your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +luck is better than mine, just send a letter to that address, and tell +them where your old comrade fell, and tell them he—nay, tell them what +you like."</p> + +<p>The three officers each took down Hubert's address, and promised to +perform his wish; but they too had friends and relations in Britain's +distant isle, and they each asked of Hubert a similar boon, should the +fortune of the day be his, not theirs; then, with a friendly grasp of +the hand, they exchanged promises; and to think, perhaps, more deeply of +the past, or the morrow, they bade each other good-night and lay down in +silence on the ground. Only for a few hours did anything like stillness +hover over the beleaguered village; at early dawn the natives, having +heard that the English were surrounding them, came out in great numbers, +to drive away or attack their invaders. A terrible fight now commenced, +wearing any form but that of a set battle, and it lasted the whole day; +but at length the chief was slain, and the Hindoos, upon hearing it, +fled in all directions, leaving the English masters of the village. +There had been a sad slaughter of the natives, and more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> than two +hundred of the English had fallen. Hubert's regiment had suffered +considerably; but he and his three companions were spared, and they met +again in the same place where they had passed the previous evening; +neither wound nor mark of warfare was upon any of them; they were only +fatigued, and, as they shook each other by the hand, they used some of +their old familiar terms of friendship, and sat down again beneath the +tree. There was no talk of home now, no thought of the gracious shield +which had preserved them in the fight, no word of thanksgiving to +Almighty God for their safety.</p> + +<p>As night came on they proceeded to the captured village; but in the +morning, as all the soldiers were not required to remain, Hubert's +company, and one or two others, were ordered back to their respective +barracks. Several of Hubert's company were missing; familiar faces were +gone, and well-remembered voices were hushed; yet, with pride and high +spirits, most of those that remained, after having helped to bury some +of the dead, prepared to march as soon as the sun would permit. It was a +beautiful evening when the sol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>diers started, but they had not gone very +far before Hubert and some of the other officers fell a little behind +the men, and sat down upon the short dry grass and weeds. Just as they +were about to pursue their journey through the jungle, some beautiful +birds attracted their attention, and they turned aside from the pathway +in pursuit. This thoughtless act was attended with danger, for the +evening was fast closing, and there was every probability that they +would lose their way. At the suggestion of one, however, they turned +back, and made all possible haste to overtake the soldiers. Night came +on much more rapidly than they had expected, and before they had gone +far in the jungle it grew very dark. They pushed on as rapidly as they +could, but the path was unfamiliar to them, and they soon lost each +other. Sometimes a rustling amongst the bushes made Hubert start, and +once he thought he heard voices besides the scattered ones of his +companions. Very soon, however, all was silent; they were all wandering +different ways, and Hubert was alone. Once he thought of climbing into a +tree, and staying there till daybreak, but he felt so confident that he +could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> not have much further to go that he made another effort to reach +the barracks. Suddenly a rustling in the bush startled him again, and +laying his hand upon his sword he called out the watchword of his +regiment. There was no answer, and thinking it perhaps some bird, he +went on again, keeping up his courage by occasionally whistling. He had +almost reached the edge of the jungle, for he had fortunately kept near +the right path, when a wild shout fell upon his ear, a flash of light +illumined all around him, and Hubert, stunned and wounded, fell to the +ground.</p> + +<p>The moon rose calmly in the sky, and her soft rays fell upon the trees +beneath which Hubert lay. He was still insensible, and the brown grass +around him was stained with blood. A slight breath of wind that passed +over him, gently waved the dark hair from his wounded forehead; another +ball had shattered his right leg, which had bent up beneath him as he +fell.</p> + +<p>Not far away, in the barracks, the next morning the roll was called; +Hubert's companions had arrived safe during the night; they now told +where they had missed him, and a piquet of men was sent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> out to search +for him. They did not go far into the jungle before Hubert was found; he +had partly recovered from his faintness, but was too exhausted to speak: +they conveyed him to the hospital, where his wounds were dressed, and +every attention was paid him, but he had lost so much blood as he lay +all night upon the ground, that no hopes whatever were given of his +recovery, and he lay several days without speaking a word.</p> + +<p>The doctor came day after day, as often as he could snatch a moment from +his duties, and sat down by Hubert's bed: he knew all about him, knew +the life he had led, and felt all the weight of the dread thought of a +soul passing into eternity unsaved. There he lay, that reckless, sinning +one, now helpless, dying, and many a heartfelt prayer was breathed by +the one friend that still clung to him, that he might not be taken away +in his sin. It is not kith nor kin that bounds the Christian's love; +like his Divine Master, he deems precious every human soul, and no +matter 'neath what sky or colour, whether friend or foe, he cannot see +that priceless thing perish without an effort to save it. Many a long +hour the doctor sat and watched by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> Hubert's bed: the leg had been set, +and appeared favourable, but reason did not return, and it was for that +he watched and prayed, and yet how that same reason had shunned and +insulted him. Good man, he forgot all about himself now, and watched as +a fond brother over the sufferer. His prayers were heard; Hubert awoke +from insensibility, and occasionally spoke a word to those who attended +him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h2>THE TIME FOR REFLECTION.</h2> + +<p> +O, lost and found! All gentle souls below<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Their dearest welcome shall prepare, and prove</span><br /> +Such joy o'er thee as raptured seraphs know,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who learn their lesson at the throne of love.—<span class="smcap">Keble.</span></span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>A week had passed. Hubert was slightly better, and there was a faint +hope that he would ultimately recover. The doctor had been two or three +times during each day to see him, and now, as the sun was setting, he +came again. Weary as he was with his usual duties, he had still his +Master's work to do, and as he took his seat by Hubert's bed he asked if +he should read to him. Hubert knew quite well that the doctor's book was +the Bible, and though he also knew that but very faint hopes were given +of his recovery, he replied, "No, thank you; I shall perhaps soon be +better, when I shall have plenty of time to read." The doctor tried to +prevail, but Hubert resisted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> until he became excited, when his friend, +wishing him a good night, left him alone.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I hope soon to be better," he repeated to himself, as the doctor +left the room, though, as he gazed at the three empty beds near him, he +little thought that the insensibility to all pain which occasionally +stole over him, rendered the hope of his recovery very faint, and that +unless a change took place his couch would soon be empty also.</p> + +<p>Another and another day passed. Hubert was no better; and as the doctor +again sat down beside him, he said, as he gently took the feverish hand, +"My friend, perhaps you would like some one to send a letter to your +friends in England; is there anything you would like to say? Shall I +write for you?"</p> + +<p>"Not now."</p> + +<p>"Why not now? I have told you how precarious your state is: you had +better send a few lines home: let me write something for you,—shall I?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! I have no wish to write. They have not heard for more than +twenty years; it is no use writing now, they may all be dead."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! that is not probable; and they will in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> time hear of the battle +you have been in, and see your name amongst the wounded. It would +comfort them greatly to hear from you; and if, as you say, you have not +written for so long a time, how they would rejoice to find you had not +forgotten them!"</p> + +<p>"No, doctor," said Hubert, faintly, "it would be no joy to them, they +cannot care for me now. I broke my mother's heart; I know it. I dreamt +it once, years ago; and many a time the sad face I saw in my dream has +come before me when I have least wanted it; many other things, too, +doctor, I could tell you which forbid my writing. No, I cannot, at least +not now—another time."</p> + +<p>"No, my poor friend, not another time, write now: I'll write, shall I?"</p> + +<p>"Write what, and to whom? No, I tell you, they are dead," and he turned +his face away.</p> + +<p>The doctor knew well that Hubert's illness was too serious a matter to +be trifled with: everything was against him; it was the hottest season +of the year, dissipation had undermined his constitution, and his mind +was uneasy; and the thought had struck that good man, that if he could +get Hubert<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> to turn his thoughts homeward, reflection might bring +remorse for his past life, and he might think of eternity. For a few +seconds he stood still, gazing silently at his patient, wondering what +he should do. It was not his custom to see a soldier die without feeling +any concern; his own well-worn Bible testified how often he had used +that sacred book; and written in the Book of Life were perhaps not a few +names of erring yet repentant sinners, brought to know Christ by his +humble efforts. "Soldier brother," he said, as he took the hot hand once +again in his own, "I must not be refused <i>all</i> I ask; let me read to +you."</p> + +<p>Hubert made no answer, and the doctor turned over the soiled pages of +his Bible and read, with a soft clear voice, the fifty-first Psalm.—</p> + +<p>"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; according +unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions," +&c., &c.</p> + +<p>The psalm was ended: none of its petitions, however, appeared to have +touched the heart of the sick man, though their effect was great upon +the doctor, who, kneeling down, poured out his soul's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> grief in a deep, +heartfelt prayer, begged hard and earnestly for mercy and pardon for his +suffering brother, and implored that a ray of light might beam into his +heart. Never before had such a prayer sounded in Hubert's ear, and yet, +when the good man rose from his knees, the only sound that he heard was, +"Doctor, I can sleep."</p> + +<p>"Good night, then," was the answer; "I shall come early in the morning, +and before then, if you require me; good night."</p> + +<p>"Good night;" and there was a gentle pressure of the hand; then the +doctor left the room.</p> + +<p>"Is he gone?" said Hubert, faintly, a few minutes after. "Oh! why did he +leave me?" and the poor sufferer's eyes turned towards the door.</p> + +<p>The watcher that night was a woman: it was not often that a woman tended +the sick soldiers in the hospital where Hubert now lay, but it was his +lot to be so fortunate on this occasion; and she was sitting beside an +open window, looking out upon the sun, which was sinking in the west, +and throwing, as she was thinking, its rays upon her English home, when +she heard Hubert speak, and, hastening to his side, in an instant she +asked him kindly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> if he required anything. Perhaps his heart was too +full, for he only turned his head away and sighed deeply.</p> + +<p>"Captain," she said, as she bent over him, "does anything trouble you? +Can I get you anything?" And as she gently smoothed back the hair upon +his forehead, she thought she saw a tear roll down his sunburnt cheek. +That tear was enough; the stern scenes she had witnessed during a long +sojourn in India, had made her callous to many things, and left many a +scar upon her heart; but she was woman still, and could not resist the +power of that tear. She sat down upon the stool by the soldier's bed, +chafed his hot hand in hers, cooled his brow again and again, and spoke +soothingly and kindly to him; still he was silent, gave no answer to any +of her kind inquiries, except by an occasional sigh.</p> + +<p>"I know you are uneasy, Captain; tell me, oh, do tell me! I've asked you +many things, and you have answered me nothing; do tell me what's the +matter. What can I do for you?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Captain, let me do something; shall I fetch Dr. Martin? What shall +I do?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Will you read to me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that I will;" and the nurse immediately fetched her Bible, and for +a long time, by the dim flickering candle, her voice rose softly upon +the stillness of that chamber, as she read of mercy and forgiveness to +the penitent and heart-broken sinner.</p> + +<p>It may have been that the sound of her voice had a soothing effect upon +Hubert's ear, for he sank calmly to sleep, and his rest was peaceful. +When he awoke, however, with the morning light, his pulse beat high, +owing probably to the excitement of the previous day, and the doctor was +still unable to give hope of his recovery; and after another day, when +the shadows of evening drew on, that good man took his seat once more by +the sufferer's bed, and read again, in hopes to soothe the troubled +spirit and lead the uneasy thoughts to better things.</p> + +<p>"Why do you come here, and sit and tire yourself reading to me? You must +already be weary with your day's work. Why do you come here?" And +Hubert, with a steady eye, gazed into the doctor's face as he made the +inquiry.</p> + +<p>"Why do I come?" replied the doctor, as he gently took Hubert's hand; +but he felt his throat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> swell at that moment, and while he hesitated +Hubert repeated, "Yes, why do you come?"</p> + +<p>"Because it is my duty, and because I have a deep affection for you. I +<i>am</i> weary, but what matters that? You are more; so my necessity is not +like yours. And another thing, I know you are unhappy."</p> + +<p>"Who told you?"</p> + +<p>"I have not needed to be told; I know it well enough. You know I know +it, and for that cause I come to you, but the first thing I ask you, you +refuse. You know not how great a comfort it would be to you to write +home to your parents; there is much for you to do, but that is the first +thing, for it is a holy duty."</p> + +<p>"I have never done it, doctor, may God forgive me and I cannot do it +now; it is too late, too late. You said right; I am not happy; the days +and nights I have lain here have told me that all is too late now; the +life I have led has been a wicked one, and if I die I am lost Oh, what +shall I do?"</p> + +<p>There was nothing stern in the doctor's heart; he had striven, and wept, +and prayed earnestly that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> Hubert might see the error of his way, but +now, at this confession and despair, he almost regretted that he had +added to the sufferer's woes. There was no exulting over the poor +sinner, but bending down close to Hubert's ear, he said—</p> + +<p>"Fear not; pour out your heart's sorrow to God, for, deep as your sins +are, He <i>can</i> and <i>will</i> save you, if, with a true, penitent, and broken +heart, you confess all your sins to Him and throw yourself helpless on +His mercy. You can do nothing for yourself; your own poor sorrowing +heart is an offering Jesus Christ will accept if you will give it to +Him. Don't hesitate, Christ is waiting to receive you; do, then, with +godly sorrow, throw yourself upon His mercy."</p> + +<p>"But I cannot," said Hubert. "It may be true, all you say, but I have +sinned so long, or else I am different to other people. God may forgive +such as you, but I have sinned too much."</p> + +<p>"Oh no, not too much for God to forgive. He knows all you have done, and +He knows all you need. Christ has died for you; why should you be lost?"</p> + +<p>"Does God know <i>all</i> I've done? Does He know<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> how hard I tried to lead a +better life?—and then Ellen died! No, I cannot believe it Go, go; leave +me alone. What matters how I die? Go, and leave me as I am." And, +clasping his hands tightly upon his bosom, he said with earnestness, as +he looked upward, "Lord, have mercy upon me." Then he was exhausted; a +faint hue came over his face, and the doctor, seeing that the strength +of the sufferer was failing, stayed by his bedside to administer to his +need. Hubert's hands had fallen upon the coverlet, and as the doctor +took one in his own, he started at its strange coldness, and for a long +time he chafed it. All, indeed, that could be done was done for Hubert, +and throughout the long, sultry, silent night the nurse and doctor +watched with Christian love beside the lonely bed. Hubert at length fell +into a heavy sleep; it was the crisis of the fever, and never was infant +slumber more softly guarded than that of his. And the next day went on; +night came again; the sun in all its splendour went down in the western +horizon, and the doctor crept softly into Hubert's chamber to take +another look at the sleeper. He had gazed some minutes, he had breathed +a prayer, and was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> turning away when, with a gentle sigh, Hubert awoke. +There was a ray of light upon his face; he was better; the fever had +left him, and the doctor, after administering a cordial, gave him for +the night to the care of the nurse, who well knew how to attend to him; +and he assured Hubert that, if he attended to his instructions, his leg +would be the only cause for uneasiness, and he hoped, by God's blessing, +he would soon recover from that. Then, as he was leaving, he promised to +come again the next morning and read to him. The morning came, the +doctor was there, and he told all about God's mercy and love to the +vilest of earth's sinners; then he knelt and prayed, with all the +earnestness of his heart, for all God's grace to the sufferer; and with +such simple words and touching sadness did he tell the Prodigal's story, +that Hubert's unbelief and despair yielded at once to the mighty power +of direct communication with God, and tears fell fast upon his pillow.</p> + +<p>The doctor had been more than an hour with Hubert, and now onward to +other sufferers he went, with his double mission. The scene in Hubert's +room had urged him to be more earnest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> in his Master's cause, and his +soul was full of prayer that a heavenly ray might illume Hubert's +darkened heart and bring him to the feet of Jesus. Little did the +sufferer know how earnestly that good man desired his salvation, and +little did the regiment know, as its members saw him, with earnest +thoughtful brow, wending his way beneath the shadow of the high wall, +that in yonder lone building lay the cause of his toiling through the +hot summer days, toiling again as night came round, growing more sallow +and more gaunt, yet never seeming to weary. "My grace is sufficient for +thee," was strictly exemplified in that earnest faithful disciple; God +blessed him, and kept him a burning and a shining light, amidst all the +sin and temptation of India's dark land; and though a scoff and a sneer +were not unfrequently the reward of his efforts to reclaim the sinner, +many a scoffer sent for him in the last sad hour, and a few testified, +by a better life, to the holiness of his.</p> + +<p>Each time the doctor returned to Hubert, he found him slightly better; +his wounded forehead was nearly well, and his shattered leg was +progressing favourably; all traces of feverishness were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> gone, and the +doctor seemed pleased as he told him that though at present the least +thing might bring on fever again, which would certainly be fatal, yet, +if all went well, he hoped in a few days to be able to pronounce him out +of danger.</p> + +<p>"Pray that it may be so," said Hubert, "for I dare not die now: God has +heard your last prayer; a week ago I could have died to rid my heart of +its dreadful despair, and the terrible weight that was upon it, but not +now. I do think there is a little hope for me—pray something for me, +you know so well all about me;—how came you to know so much?"</p> + +<p>The doctor, sitting down by the bed, said, "Goodwin, many a year has +passed away since you and your companions first attracted my notice. I +remember well the morning you landed in Calcutta, for, if you recollect, +your own doctor died on the passage out, and I accepted the appointment +as you lay out in the bay, and went down to meet you on landing. I was, +of course, strange to all of you, but the thing that struck me most was +the extreme youth of the regiment—the majority did not appear much over +twenty years of age, and then there was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> a good number of youths +apparently about sixteen. I remember that many remarks were made at the +time about you all, and I came to the conclusion that at least half of +you had come to India to die. I have not been wrong either in that; but +I am going from the point—I remember that I was particularly struck +with you and a fair, gentle-looking companion you had."</p> + +<p>Hubert sighed, "It was poor Harris."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that was his name, poor fellow. Well, very soon I found out all +about the life you were leading; your higher privileges were snares, not +only to you and your companions, but to all the men, and the first grief +I felt after joining you was at the reckless and sinful example you were +setting. When first struck down with fever, how I longed, hoped, and +prayed for your conversion. But you know how your life passed on, and I +need not tell you that from that first hour of meeting you till now, I +have watched you, and prayed for you, and I know quite well that God's +Holy Spirit has often been striving very hard with you; but the warnings +you have had have generally passed away like the dew upon the earth, and +now the Almighty has mercifully stopped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> your career by this affliction. +Don't let it pass like the others have done, but take your heart, with +all its weight of sin, and lay it bare before God. He knows all your +need, will help you in all your sorrows, pardon all your sins, and make +you holy; but you must ask His aid—you must confess all your sin—you +must pray to Him with a broken heart."</p> + +<p>Hubert sighed, and then, after a moment's pause, said, "Doctor, it is no +easy matter to do as you say I ought; and you judge me harshly when you +say I have neglected all the warnings I have had. You remember poor +Harris? Well, his death had more effect upon me than you know; for weeks +and weeks I thought of nothing else, and tried very hard to change, but +somehow I could not And then poor Ellen! you remember her? I should have +been another man if she had lived; but no, I was not allowed to be +better: I lost her, and I know I have been bad since; it drove me almost +mad. But, Doctor, was it all my fault?" And Hubert burst into tears.</p> + +<p>"Goodwin," said the doctor, as he took Hubert's hand, "beware how you +rebuke the Almighty;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> His ways are not our ways; let me beg of you to +have faith in Him now; if you are spared to recover, we will talk this +point over together, but not now, time is too precious. Believe me, He +does all things well, and willeth not that any should perish; if you +will only in true faith, nothing doubting, turn to Him, confess your +sins, and ask His mercy, you will be astonished how plain many things +will appear that now seem dark and mysterious. Oh, do pray to Him!"</p> + +<p>"I have," said Hubert, softly: "I thought yesterday that I never could, +but last night, after you were gone, some words I learnt once when a +child came all into my mind; they seemed all I wanted to say, and yet +they were only part of a little child's prayer; indeed, I had long ago +forgotten them. Doctor, will you pray?"</p> + +<p>The good man knelt, and poured out his heart to Heaven for the long +sinning but repenting brother; and it was a holy sight to see the tears +streaming down the pallid cheek of the once gay, reckless soldier, as he +listened to another's prayer in his behalf. The doctor's bosom was full +also—the wanderer was at last coming home—the stray<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>ing sheep was +returning to the fold—the poor child of earth was yielding up his proud +spirit to the hand that afflicted, yet was stretched out to save +him—and the good man prayed that the sufferer might be pardoned, and +spared to set forth the beauty of that holiness of life which he had so +long neglected.</p> + +<p>Another week had passed; each day as it dawned found Hubert somewhat +better, but then each evening both the nurse and doctor watched +anxiously beside his bed, for his state was precarious: one thing, +however, that improved was the state of his mind; <i>that</i> neither +slumbered nor went back—but from the hour that he poured out his first +earnest heart-breathings to Heaven, he became more penitent and more +anxious; all the carelessness and indifference with which he had treated +religion came like so many accusing spirits before him; but, though the +reflection of his past life helped at times to blanch his sunken cheek, +he was more at peace in his bosom than he had been since his childhood.</p> + +<p>Everything that could possibly be done for Hubert he received from the +nurse and doctor, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> their attentions were blessed, for at last Hubert +was pronounced "out of danger;" and though he would never again be fit +for the army, there were hopes of his perfect recovery.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h2>WHAT THE TORN BIBLE HAD DONE FOR HUBERT.</h2> + +<p> +I will throw off this dead and useless part,<br /> +As a strong runner, straining for his life,<br /> +Unclasps a mantle to the hungry winds.<br /> +<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 9em;">Alexander Smith.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>Five weeks more passed by, during which time Hubert grew in grace, and +his soul appeared to be ripening for heaven; his health improved, and by +the aid of a wheel-chair he could be moved to the window of his room, +where he sat for many an hour reading the Bible, or enjoying the soft +warm air, as he gazed out upon the forests and jungle that lay before +him almost at his feet, or the snow-capped Himalayas in the distance.</p> + +<p>One day, as he sat by the window, he asked the nurse if she knew what +became of the coat he wore on the day when he was wounded.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, Captain," she replied, "I took care of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> it and put it away; if +you wish to have it, I will fetch it for you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Hubert, "I should like to have it now." And the nurse +went immediately to find it.</p> + +<p>In a very few minutes the nurse returned, and, as she unfolded the coat, +she said, "I fear it is very dirty, though these stains will be from the +blood; I saw them when I folded it up, but I thought it best to take +care of it, for I know soldiers generally prize the coat they were +wounded in; I have sent many a one home to England to the friends of +those who have died—you will, I hope, be able to take your own."</p> + +<p>"I hope so, nurse, though it will be some time yet before I can go;" and +then he began to examine the coat, and turned it over to find the pocket +in the inside of the left breast: he found it, and there too was all +that remained of his "torn Bible." Pale as his cheek was from pain and +sickness, a deeper pallor came over it as he drew out the Bible, and the +cover of it met his eye. What was the meaning of the small round hole he +saw? All the truth flashed upon his mind at once; he knew what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> it +meant; and the cold perspiration stood out upon his forehead, as, with +nervous hand, he turned over leaf by leaf until he came to a small +bullet. It was not large, but sufficient to have destroyed life if it +had penetrated his heart; and as he cast it upon the floor, he clasped +the torn Bible to his bosom, and bent his head low over his mother's +last gift—that despised and neglected treasure.</p> + +<p>The nurse had seen all that Hubert did upon receiving his coat; she saw +him draw the book from the pocket, tremble as he opened it, and then +cast the bullet upon the floor; but she would have taken but little +notice of all that, if she had not seen his head droop as though +something deeply troubled him.</p> + +<p>"Come, Captain," she said, "that book makes you think sad things; come, +sir, keep up your spirits, and give me the book to keep till you are +stronger."</p> + +<p>"Don't touch it; leave it with me," said Hubert, pushing back her hand; +"I am strong enough—go away."</p> + +<p>"No, Captain, I must not go away; you are not strong enough to bear any +excitement; it would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> just throw you back again, after all our care of +you. Think, sir, of getting well, not about that coat and book—I wish I +had not brought them to you. I dare say when you see that coat all +stained with blood and torn, you think about the narrow escape you have +had: but cheer up, Captain, and don't think about it now."</p> + +<p>"Look here," said Hubert, pointing to the cover of the book, "see what +saved my life;" and then he relieved his heart by telling her all about +that book; and as she listened she sat down upon a low chair before him, +and, poor sympathizing one, she forgot, while her own tears fell as she +heard the story he told, that she had, only a few minutes before, chided +him for his sadness.</p> + +<p>Three months had passed; Hubert's illness had been blessed to him: by +the aid of crutches he moved about again, and frequently encountered his +old companions; some of them had visited him in hospital, and there was +a rumour in the regiment that Captain Goodwin had "gone religious." It +caused some profane mirth amongst his comrades—the companions of his +former life—and he felt ashamed to meet them. However, at last he did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +so, and it was when they came around him, and so warmly welcomed him +back again, and expressed their hope that he would soon be restored to +perfect health, that he told them, with a holy boldness, that he +regretted his past life, and could never be one of their number again, +unless they gave up their evil ways and walked with him in the path of +holiness. As might have been expected, the confession on the part of +Hubert was received, for the most part, with laughter and derision; but +his heart was set upon the thing he sought, and from the hour he +received the rebuff he determined, if possible, to commence a work +amongst his reckless companions. The same spirit of earnestness and +devotion which had helped Hubert in worldly advancement, marked his +efforts now. He had partaken of heavenly things, and, like a true +disciple, could not bear the thought of any soul perishing; so, leaning +upon his crutches, with his torn Bible in his hand, he went as often as +his strength would allow, and his own soul grew in grace as he told +God's love to sinners to his comrades. Hubert did not labour very long +at his new work; his wounds had been too severe to allow of his +continuing in the army, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> before another three months had passed, an +order came for him to return to England.</p> + +<p>At first the idea of going back to his own country was not welcome; +indeed, India seemed to be his home more than England did, and as he +turned to the nurse, who still attended him, he said—</p> + +<p>"Nurse, I shall not go to England. How can I go with this poor useless +leg? I had better stay here."</p> + +<p>"But, Captain, your leg is not useless; the doctor says you may some day +be able to walk with a stick."</p> + +<p>"Does he? It will be very long first, I fear. No, I think I shall not go +home; no one will know me, for it is not as though I went home all +right."</p> + +<p>"Bless you, sir," replied the nurse, "plenty will know you—your mother +will, for one. I remember when our Tom ran away and went to sea, and was +gone ten years, and we never heard a word about him; well, all at once, +home he came, and the moment we caught sight of him at the garden gate, +though he had grown from a boy to a stout man, we all cried out, 'Here's +poor Tom.' We had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> never heard a word about his coming, or anything, yet +we knew him, and all ran out to meet him. I remember it well; and how +poor mother threw her arms round his neck and kissed him, and called him +her darling, and I can't tell you what; then how she stood and cried, +and scolded him for running away, and never writing; and then how she +took up her apron to wipe away her tears, and then kissed and hugged him +again. I never shall forget it. Poor mother! She and Tom are in heaven +now. I watched beside them both, and though my heart nearly broke when I +lost them, I had rather have them where they are than enduring the +trials of this life."</p> + +<p>"Did your brother die soon after he returned, then?" inquired Hubert.</p> + +<p>"He only lived three years after he came home, for he had been very much +beaten about, and his health was quite broken. Poor mother died six +months before he did. The year after they died I married, and came out +here, and I have seen some trouble. I buried three little children one +after another, and then I buried my husband. They all lie just out +there, under that large tree in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> corner of the burial-ground. I was +ordered home, but I could not leave the spot where they were lying, so +gave up my passage to England, and have stayed here ever since. I have +only one wish, and that is to be buried just out there beside them. It +is sixteen years since my husband died; and the first time you can get +so far just go and see how nicely I keep his and the children's graves."</p> + +<p>Hubert was interested in the woman's story; her patient devotion and +affection won his heart, and he took the first opportunity of visiting +the graves of her loved ones, and as he gazed upon the well-kept mounds +before him, his thoughts sped over the ocean to a distant land, and he +saw the village churchyard, with the grassy hillocks beneath which lay +the remains of many members of his family, and lifting up his heart in +prayer to God for humility and strength, he determined to bid farewell +to India, and return to the fold from which he had wandered.</p> + +<p>It was soon known that Hubert was going to England, and many ready hands +and hearts assisted him in preparing to go. All his little property was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +collected, several presents were given him, and many a regret was +expressed at his leaving; all of which made it harder to go than he had +anticipated, and he felt, as the time drew near, more and more sorry to +leave. But there was no alternative; so he decided to sail in the first +vessel that left Calcutta after he arrived there. The doctor, to whom +Hubert had communicated his intention, came to him one evening and told +him that, as he was at liberty to choose his own vessel, he could not do +better than make his passage over the seas in the <i>Arctic</i>. "She is a +splendid ship," said the doctor, "and the captain is a religious man. I +know him well. You will not be annoyed with riotous conduct in his +vessel, and will have no cause to complain of the manner in which he +observes the Sabbath."</p> + +<p>"Ah, that will be the ship, then," replied Hubert; "but did you ever +sail in it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, twice to the Cape of Good Hope and back; and I can assure you that +I have been in many a church and have not heard the service with such +comfort as I heard it in that ship. Our beautiful Liturgy was read with +such deep earnestness and pathos that I thought then, and I have +thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> ever since, that out on the ocean, with dangers around us, is +the fittest place for those grand prayers to be breathed; for as I +joined and as I listened, I thought I could see Christ beside me walking +upon the sea, and my soul seemed carried up higher into heaven than it +had ever been before."</p> + +<p>"That was beautiful!" exclaimed Hubert; "I always like to hear you talk +like that, doctor, it makes me feel something of the same kind. I shall +like that ship; when will she sail?"</p> + +<p>"I scarcely know, but it will not be long. She has been lying at +Calcutta some time, and I should think is about returning to England; +she has not gone, I know, because Lieutenant White told me last night +that he intended sending a box to England by her. By the way, he can, +perhaps, tell us when she will sail."</p> + +<p>It was found, upon inquiry, that the <i>Arctic</i> would set sail in about +ten days; so Hubert bade farewell as soon as he could to his friends, +and, accompanied by the doctor, was in a few days on his way to +Calcutta. He bore the fatigue of the journey better than he had +expected, though he was very much exhausted, and was heartily glad when +he reached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> the ship, and lay down to rest in his cabin. The doctor +stayed all night, and then the next morning they took leave of each +other, promising to continue the friendship which, to Hubert at least, +had been such a blessing. Hubert did not at first feel all he had lost +when the doctor left, for his mind was somewhat occupied in arranging +his cabin, so as to be as comfortable as possible on the voyage; but +this, of course, had an end, and a consciousness came over him that he +was friendless on the wide world amongst strangers. At first he thought +it would be better to keep so, and not leave his cabin at all, for, if +he went on deck, the remarks or sympathy of the other passengers would +be very annoying. They might pity him, and be kind and attentive to him +in his weakness, but it would only make him feel more keenly the +calamity which had fallen on him in the full vigour of his manhood; and +then, as his thoughts rushed back, and he saw himself but a few months +before so full of health and activity, he forgot the great blessing that +had accompanied his illness, and his heart murmured and rebelled. A dark +cloud seemed to have fallen over Hubert: for three days he maintained a +gloomy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> silence in his cabin; and the sailor that waited upon him told +his shipmates that it was a pity his honour had chosen the sea for a +grave, for unless he changed he would, in his honest opinion, die before +they were far out of the bay. "Tell him so, Ben, for you know it ain't +lucky to have a death on board," said one of the sailors. However, Ben +said nothing to Hubert, for in his own mind he began to think that the +soldier had a sorrow, which would perhaps wear away in time; and the +sailor was not wrong. It was a dark hour in Hubert's life—a weak +yielding of the flesh; and who can wonder? In the short time that had +passed since he had given up his evil ways, how much instruction and +counsel he had received from the kind friend who had brought him to the +vessel; and the kind nurse, so full of sympathy towards him, knowing all +about him, had helped to buoy up his spirits when they were sinking, and +by them the struggle between his old and his new nature had been +lightened. How Hubert missed those two friends now! He never thought he +could have cared for them half so much. In the gloomy thoughts that had +come over him, he would have given much for one of them to have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> been +near; but he was alone, and his nature warred with his spirit, and his +bosom refused to be comforted. Many times he wished he could return to +India, and reproached himself for having left: there, at least, there +was some one that cared for him; now, where was he? Out on the sea, +without a friend; and, perhaps, in the distant land to which he was +going he might find himself friendless still. Friendless! the thought +bowed him very low: but God knew the storm that was beating upon the +heart of the returning wanderer, and the powerful hand of Omnipotence +tempered the hurricane; for, like the distant sound of help, in the lull +of the tempest, the words came suddenly into his mind—"I will never +leave thee, nor forsake thee."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Hubert, starting, and pointing upwards as he spoke, "Gracious +God, I have a friend in Thee;" then, clasping his hands together, he +prayed an earnest prayer that God would pardon the sin of his murmuring, +help him to overcome the evil nature in his heart, and make him more +holy.</p> + +<p>Hubert's peace of mind returned as soon as he had poured out his grief +in prayer, and Ben the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> sailor told his shipmates that they need not +fear now, for his honour had taken a turn, and was quite cheerful-like. +The evening of another day was closing, and Hubert came upon deck, +amongst the other passengers, to take a last look of the land where the +best years of his life had been passed, and where nearly all the +remembered associations of his existence were centred.</p> + +<p>The home of his boyhood, in that lovely English valley, had come before +him in memory's brightest colours, as he lay sick and wounded in the +hospital; and he thought of it too when he set out for England, but he +could remember nothing at all of it, as he stood by the side of the +vessel, looking back upon his manhood's home—the field of his fame. It +was true that he had there strayed further from the right path, and sunk +deeper into sin; that, if India had been the scene of his fame, it had +also been the scene of his guilt; but then his heart whispered that it +was there too he had mourned and repented, and if a deep sigh escaped +his bosom, as he watched the last shadow of his Indian home fade from +his view, it was because he was leaving it for ever.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> + +<p>Long after the last look had been taken, Hubert sat still upon deck, and +was roused from his thoughtfulness by the words—</p> + +<p>"Will you accept my arm, Captain, to your cabin? it is getting late."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, I had forgotten, I see it is late; I can manage pretty well +with my crutch. But no, since you kindly offer me your arm, I will +accept it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, do, Captain, the vessel is not over steady."</p> + +<p>When Hubert reached his cabin, he turned his head to thank his friend, +and then he saw that he was a man many years older than himself, with a +clear open countenance and with hair deeply tinged with grey.</p> + +<p>"You are welcome," said the stranger, "and I hope we shall become better +acquainted, for we have a long voyage before us, which I, like you, +appear to be making alone, and pleasant society will render it +cheerful—good night."</p> + +<p>"Good night," replied Hubert; "I hope it will be as you say," and, +grasping his hand, he again said, "Good night."</p> + +<p>They were now far out at sea; the high lands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> of India had sunk below +the horizon; Ceylon, with its spicy perfumes, was passed; and Adam's +Peak, the high towering sentinel of that wonderful island, had sunk also +beneath the wave. Hubert enjoyed the sea; his health and spirits +returned, and the time passed much more pleasantly than he had +anticipated; he found his new friend a most agreeable companion, kind +and considerate towards him, and, having been a great traveller, he was +ever ready and willing to amuse Hubert, not only with accounts of the +countries to which he had travelled, but also of England, which country +he had left only five years before: he had been a wanderer all his +life—he was born upon the sea, in his father's vessel, and being early +deprived of his mother, he and his brother became the companions of all +their father's voyages. Born, as it were, to a wandering life, a life +which in after years they were in no way fitted to give up, his brother +succeeded to the command of his father's ship, while he roamed to nearly +every part of the world, and gave to society many valuable volumes of +information on different parts of the earth and its people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hubert always listened with pleasure to the conversation of his friend; +still there was ever a wish in his mind that the subject would change: +he longed to hear him talk of higher things than those of earth, for +never once, in all he said, did he make reference to the God of +heaven—it seemed to be the god of this world that he worshipped; and +Hubert sighed, as he thought that he had not proved the true friend he +had hoped to find in him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h2>HOMEWARD BOUND.</h2> + +<p> +Back to the world we faithless turn'd,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And far along the wild,</span><br /> +With labour lost and sorrow earn'd,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Our steps have been beguiled.—<span class="smcap">Keble.</span></span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>The Sundays on board the <i>Arctic</i> were spent as the doctor had led +Hubert to expect; and happy, holy days they were—no one enjoyed them +more than Hubert, and on more than one occasion he spoke of them to his +friend. His remarks, however, were never responded to heartily, and +Hubert felt annoyed that he had formed a friendship with a man who +seemed to have no interest in the chief of all his enjoyments. "It may +be," said Hubert one day, as he sat alone in his cabin—"it may be +because he has never been struck down as I have been; or it may be—Ah! +what may it be?" Then he fell into a deep reverie, and wondered many +things as to the cause of his friend's indifference to sacred things; +and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> prayed for a beam of light into the heart which appeared to him +to be darkened. Hubert felt a growing anxiety about his friend—he knew +they could not be companions very long; the journey, long as it yet was, +was daily growing shorter, and he did not feel certain that he would not +be in some way responsible if he allowed the present opportunity to +pass.</p> + +<p>Some timid Christians are frightened into silence by the mere worldly +boldness of those amongst whom they dwell, but it was not so with +Hubert. His companion was a quiet, unobtrusive man, as amiable and kind +as it was possible to be; and yet Hubert had not boldness sufficient to +tell him that the Bible was the theme he loved best, and heaven the +chief place of his interest. And why was it? In that stranger there was +education, refined taste and eloquence, united to the pursuits of a +lifetime; and whatever resolution Hubert made when alone, he always +failed to accomplish it when he came and sat down by his side. Sometimes +the subject was upon Hubert's lips, and many times his hand was in his +coat-pocket, in which the torn Bible lay; but then he feared to produce +it, lest his friend, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> seemed to know the human heart so well, should +reproach him for having taken up religion in his infirmity, when he had +devoted his health and strength to dissipation and pleasure. It grieved +him very much, for it made him ill at ease with himself: his Bible was +his chief companion, it is true, and there was nothing that he loved so +well. Sometimes he wondered at himself for taking such delight in it, +and, acting upon the advice of his old friend the doctor, "to try and +examine all the thoughts and intentions of the heart," he imposed upon +himself many a search to find out, if possible, why it was that the +pages of that torn book gave him such delight—why at times his tears +would fall as he read it—and why sometimes his bosom would swell, and +his heart beat, at the story it told him; but he could not find out how +it was, he only knew that he loved it, and wanted others to love it too.</p> + +<p>The ship made a rather quick run to the Cape, where she stayed a +fortnight; and Hubert so much improved in strength, that he laid aside +his crutch, and walked easily with two walking-sticks. With his +returning strength his spirit and face grew more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> cheerful, and he began +to feel a hankering for his home in England; it became a favourite +thought, and after that a frequent topic of conversation.</p> + +<p>"I have only one desire," he would sometimes say, "and that is, that +those I left behind so many years ago may be alive to welcome me home."</p> + +<p>"You can hardly expect it," said his friend on one occasion, as they sat +together on deck. "A great many changes occur in the space of a quarter +of a century, and it is generally those we love best who are taken the +first away from us."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps to draw our thoughts to heaven," said Hubert.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so," replied his friend; "but suppose it does not do it, and +instead of our becoming very resigned and heavenly-minded we become +reckless and desperate, and think of any place but heaven,—what then?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Hubert, "except that the man who could feel what +you say must be one who has forgotten to worship God, and so when +trouble comes upon him he hasn't God to help him to bear it."</p> + +<p>The stranger looked earnestly into Hubert's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> face; there might have been +a home-thrust in that remark, for, heaving a deep sigh, he said, "I hope +you have never known what it is to lose a friend very, very dear to you, +and I hope you never will—yours is a beautiful delusion. I had it once, +but I haven't it now, and I hope circumstances may never rob you of it."</p> + +<p>"I hope not. But, my friend," said Hubert, laying his hand upon his arm, +"I <i>have</i> lost one very, <i>very</i> dear to me, all I ever loved, and it is +the beautiful delusion you name that has helped me to bear it; nay, it +is not a delusion, it is a high hope—a hope that when this life is +ended, and all who are dear to us have been taken away, we shall meet +once again in heaven, to live together for ever."</p> + +<p>Hubert's face had become animated while he spoke, and in his warmth he +put his hand into his pocket, intending to bring out his Bible; but his +friend checked him by saying, "What a strange, powerful influence the +things we learn in our youth have over our lives! A holy precept +instilled into us when we are lads, is a diamond set in an imperishable +casket; and though the dust of careless,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> sceptical manhood may +oftentimes cover over the gem, still it is there as bright as ever, +ready to shine with its former lustre when the heart, trusting and +believing, instead of doubting, fans off the black shadow of unbelief; +surely it is then that God's Spirit breathes once again into man the +breath of life."</p> + +<p>"How I wish I could talk as you do!" said Hubert; "then I would tell you +what I feel. But when I want to speak, I seem to feel so much that I +have no words to express myself, and so I say but little. How is it, +though, that you speak so of God? I thought you were unbelieving."</p> + +<p>"And what have I said to make you think that I believe now?"</p> + +<p>"You must," said Hubert, "else you would not speak so of the Spirit of +God. When I spoke of God, you called it a delusion, and I said nothing +like what you have said. You surely are not a sceptic? you must +believe."</p> + +<p>"I may believe some things, but not all that you do; for it has been an +easy matter to forget all about the one true God in a country where so +many gods are worshipped."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did you forget, with all your learning and eloquence? Did <i>you</i> +forget?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, I did; I dare not tell you what I did, neither can I tell you +what I have suffered, nor how good and gracious God has been to me. For +more than twenty years I chose to live regardless of a future +life—indeed, regardless of anything but sin. I always tremble when I +think how I have lived, and yet see how gracious God has been to me; and +though you, too, forget to serve Him, He has not forgotten to be +gracious and merciful to you."</p> + +<p>The stranger sat still, in a careless attitude, with his broad-brimmed +straw hat shading his face, and his hands thrust into the pockets of his +loose coat. He spoke nothing in answer to Hubert's remarks, and Hubert, +after maintaining the silence for some time, rose from his seat and went +to his cabin. Ben, the sailor, had opened the cabin window, against +which the rippling of the calm sea occasionally threw a tiny crystal, +and as Hubert entered, and saw Ben standing before the window, he +said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"Are you afraid the water will be in, Ben?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no, your honour," said the sailor, touching the little bit of hair +upon his forehead, "we're more than four feet above water at this +window; but I was a-thinking, your honour, of the storm on the Sea of +Galilee, and how our Saviour caused a great calm: it was a wonderful +thing, and I dare say it made a good many believe on Him as didn't +believe before. St. Mark says there was also some little ships besides +the one Christ was in, and I dare say there was a good many in those +ships as didn't believe Him at all; but it just wanted that great +tempest to frighten 'em and make 'em believe."</p> + +<p>"It might, indeed," replied Hubert, into whose heart a new light had +suddenly shone, "for God, who knows all hearts, knew what was in +theirs."</p> + +<p>"True, your honour, and it's the same now; many men won't believe the +Gospel until they are like, as it were, in the tempest, obliged to be +struck down with illness, or such-like, I mean."</p> + +<p>With the concluding words the sailor left the cabin, and Hubert sat down +to read all about that storm on the Sea of Galilee; he had read it +before,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> but never with such an interest as now, and it reminded him of +the tempest that had once come upon him; and he saw a deep truth in the +sailor's remark, that it is the storm that drives the sinner to Christ. +Then he sat and wondered what he must do to try and convince his +stranger friend of these things, and the prayer was almost upon his lips +that some terrible tempest might overwhelm him, if it would bring him to +the footstool of Jesus.</p> + +<p>That night, as though in answer to his heart's desire, Hubert dreamt +that his friend was "a vessel meet for the Master's use," and in a +joyous burst of feeling he awoke.</p> + +<p>"I know it, I am sure of it," he said to himself "he is a believer; a +backslider, perhaps, but not a sceptic." And he longed for the daylight +to come, that he might again seek his friend; and as he lay awake during +the remainder of the night, he tried to throw many of the incidents of +his own life round that of the stranger. He would give anything almost +to hear something more of his history; what he had told him was not +enough, and Hubert hoped for a closer and firmer friendship. A kindred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +wish seemed to have passed nearly at the same time through the mind of +the stranger, for he had retired to rest with the hope that he might get +to know something more of Hubert; and the next morning, when they met on +deck, there was a cordial greeting, and they went and sat down on the +seat they had occupied the day before. There were several passengers on +board the ship, but Hubert and the stranger were exclusive in their +friendship, so that when together they met with no interruption; and +this time, as they talked of various things, with the wide-spread ocean +around them, Hubert, after a pause, said—</p> + +<p>"Did you ever read the story of Jesus Christ stilling the tempest on the +Sea of Galilee?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, many times; why?"</p> + +<p>Then Hubert repeated what Ben the sailor had said; told, too, from whose +honest heart the ideas came; and his bosom felt a thrill of pleasure at +the earnest attention the stranger gave him.</p> + +<p>"Well done, Ben," burst suddenly from his lips, "Why, Captain Goodwin, +he's a clear-headed fellow. It's astonishing what remarkably good +notions those sailors sometimes have."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then he returned to Hubert's subject, painted in rich imagery the silent +lake, the little vessels, and the sleeping Saviour; then the tempest, +the alarm, the cry, "Save, or we perish," and the Omnipotent, "Peace, be +still." He knew all about it; he likened the silent lake to man's heart +in boasted security; the little vessels to the many sins of his +indulgence; the sleeping Saviour, to conscience hushed by sin; the +tempest, to man awakening; the alarm, to man seeking pardon; the cry, to +man's heart broken in despair; and the "Peace, be still," the voice of a +reconciled God, the sign-manual of forgiveness.</p> + +<p>Hubert had never heard anything that told upon his heart with stronger +power. Tears were in his eyes, and, drawing a long breath, he said—</p> + +<p>"How could you make me think that there was anything that you did not +believe in reference to God, when you know so much, and can explain so +beautifully? Oh, if I knew only half what you do—if I had but a little +of your power to express myself, what a Christian I would be."</p> + +<p>"You don't know," said the stranger, laying his hand upon Hubert's +raised arm. "The head may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> be full of knowledge, and the tongue fluent +in speech, and yet the heart may be cold. It has been said, that for a +speaker to move the hearts of his hearers, he must himself feel the +power of his subject. Now, in worldly matters it may be so, but I am +inclined to think that in religious matters it is not obliged to be. +There is in all things referring to man's soul a secret influence which +does not necessarily require the fire of man's heart to make it +effective. God's Spirit is alone sufficient to move the waters. +Eloquence, indeed! Oh, beware how you covet it. Where is there anything +finer than the testimony of Christ's divinity made by the <i>demon</i> in the +synagogue at Capernaum—'What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of +Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the +Holy One of God.' Be assured that, after all, there is no sublimer +strain that reaches the ears of the Most High than the contrite 'Lord, +save, or we perish.'"</p> + +<p>There was much earnestness in the stranger's manner, and the last words +he uttered struck Hubert as a prayer coming up from the depths of that +heart which, in the stillness of the previous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> night, he had satisfied +himself was not sceptical, but backsliding. Hubert's curiosity was more +awakened, and just as he was about to ask his friend another question, +they were interrupted by the sailors coming to the part of the vessel +where they were seated, to attend to some portion of the rigging. +Hubert, taking his stick, walked away slowly to his cabin, but his +friend did not follow him, and he sat down in silence alone. How many +subjects, during the voyage, that stranger had given Hubert to think +about! and the time had passed so pleasantly that he had not missed, +quite so much as he had anticipated, the friends in India. Many new +lights had shone into his heart, and his mind had opened to more truths +by the companionship he had made, and he felt now as much delighted with +the friendship, as a short time before he had been disappointed; that +short prayer, so emphatically spoken, had touched a deep feeling of his +own heart, and he wondered whether the high order of intellect, the +learning and eloquence of his friend, had not proved to him a snare, in +the same way that the careless, reckless, self-will of his own nature +had been to him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Great God!" he said, gazing upward, "guide the thoughts of my heart +aright, lest I argue that some of thy gifts are given to man to his +injury."</p> + +<p>How humble Hubert had become, how ready to resign his own will to that +of a higher! and many a prayer he breathed that day—for the evil +thought came continually up in his mind, that God's gifts were not +always for good. Do as he would, or think as he would, that same thought +was uppermost in his mind, and he felt that it was the evil one grasping +at the expiring hope of bringing him back to him again. Hubert's faith, +however, was growing stronger every day: he had learnt to feel that +without the guidance and protection of God he was a frail erring +creature, and it led him to be frequently a suppliant, and frequently a +receiver of heavenly strength.</p> + +<p>"Get thee behind me, Satan; every gift of God <i>is</i> good and perfect, and +it is thou, thou false one, that pervertest them from the end for which +they are given;" and Hubert, as he ceased speaking, took out his "torn +Bible" to read: there was comfort there, and his heart became more +cheerful, his faith stronger, as he read upon a soiled torn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> page of +that precious book—"Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, +for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I +will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."</p> + +<p>It mattered not to whom, nor under what circumstances, such passages of +Scripture were written—they were as effective to Hubert as though they +had been penned for him alone; and he took them all to himself, and +became more trusting and more holy. Neither Jew nor Gentile made a stone +at which his feet were to stumble; as he opened his "torn Bible" and +read, so he believed: the promise or the threatening, as it stood there, +was what his heart received, and he believed now that God was near him, +helping him to overcome the tempter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h2>TRUE FRIENDSHIP.</h2> + +<p> +Then, potent with the spell of heaven,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Go, and thine erring brother gain;</span><br /> +Entice him home to be forgiven,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Till he, too, see his Saviour plain.—<span class="smcap">Keble.</span></span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>Three weeks more passed away; the journey homeward was getting near its +end, for the weather had been fine, and except that, on account of a +death on board, the vessel stayed a day and a night at St. Helena, there +were no interruptions. It was a lovely morning; the wind was hushed, +there was scarcely a ripple upon the ocean, the vessel glided on without +breaking the stillness, and Hubert sat on deck with his friend, enjoying +the genial atmosphere of the temperate zone.</p> + +<p>"Captain Goodwin," said the traveller, "I think our journey together is +nearly ended."</p> + +<p>"Are you not going to England?" immediately inquired Hubert.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No—at least, not at present. In a few days we shall pass Portugal, and +I may say farewell to you off Lisbon. I have a little matter on hand +that takes me to that part: when I have finished it I hope to come to +England; and I hope to meet you some day again. I trust that what we +have seen of each other has not been unprofitable; something I have told +you may remain in your memory, for I have told you many things +concerning the ways of men in nearly every country that I have been to. +Your knowledge has been confined to India, which country I have +traversed almost from one end to the other; and yet I have learnt very +much from you; and, now that we are about to part, I will tell you how. +It may be that, mixing so much amongst Indian idolatry, or, indeed, I +hardly know what has been the cause—but of late years I have grown +careless of the pure faith of my childhood, and have rather liked than +otherwise anything that tended to increase a disbelief in God and a +future life. Once let the thought that there is no future fix itself in +the mind of a man, and a thousand other thoughts, more wicked than the +first, follow, and there is little difficulty in disbelieving +altogether;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> for it is the belief that there <i>is</i> a future that +constitutes the key-stone in religion. Well, I had become sceptical; +and, Goodwin, you perhaps little thought it, but it was you with your +Bible, and all its precepts so exemplified in your conduct, that struck +me, and made me look into my own heart to find how it was that you +appeared so much more happy and contented than I was. I have often +watched you; and your silent and, as you thought, unseen study of your +Bible had a powerful effect upon me, and did more for me than any noisy +demonstration would have done. When I first met with you I was in a +state of mind to have laughed at you, if you had come and talked about +conversion and grace, and prated off a host of Scripture texts. I had +too long forsaken religion to be frightened back to it; and that is the +mistake many good people make in their endeavours to bring back God's +wandering children. When I saw you so consistent and so earnest in your +religious duties, I know this, that I longed to be like you, and that +longing led me to think of what I had once been, and by degrees things +have changed with me. I have wanted to tell you this before, but have +always been afraid to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> trust myself; it is because our journey is so +nearly ended that I tell you now. And look here, Goodwin, when I have +done what I have to do in Portugal I will come to England, where I shall +hope to meet you; and by God's blessing, since there is no secret +between us now, we will talk this matter over again. It may be a year +before I come, perhaps longer; but remember, if I am spared, I <i>will</i> +come, for I shall never forget you."</p> + +<p>"Neither shall I you," said Hubert, grasping his hand; but his heart was +full, and for some minutes he said no more. At length he continued, "Oh, +I am sorry to part with you; I have often wished that some of our time +could be spent in reading God's word, and talking of His mercy to us +both; the want of our doing so has made me at times sadly miss two +friends I left in India; still, I have much enjoyed your society, and +have learnt very much from you; for though our conversation has for the +most part been upon secular things, you have given me very much to think +about, and I thank God that I met with you. When I reach home," and +Hubert sighed, "I should like to write to you; and if you will tell me +where a letter will find you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> I will do so. I shall take up my quarters +in the north of England."</p> + +<p>The traveller gave Hubert an address which he said would find him, at +least for the next three months, and then he added—</p> + +<p>"The north of England! Ah! I well remember an incident that occurred +once as I passed through it on my way from Edinburgh to London. I have +never been in that part since, and, as near as I can recollect, it is +about four-and-twenty years ago. I was fifty-four years old yesterday, +and I was thinking that I passed my thirtieth birthday on the top of +that stage-coach. Well, we were some distance north of York—I have +forgotten the name of the place, but it was a charming little +village—and at the top of a shady lane, at the garden gate of a pretty +house, there were several people waiting to bid a young soldier +good-bye. Young, indeed! he was only a lad, just fifteen, a +fine-hearted, sprightly young fellow, and he was going off to India. +Well, he took his seat amongst the passengers, called out good-bye, and +off he went. I sat beside the coachman, and as I glanced round at him, I +felt sorry for the boy, for, though he appeared cheerful enough,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> I had +an idea that his cheerfulness was a little forced: the passengers began +to talk with him, and he really was a fine fellow. I never shall forget +him—the very type of a handsome English youth. Excuse me, I was +forgetting myself; it's but a simple story, after all: we can find +something better to talk about."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, pray finish it; I am interested in your story. What became of +the young soldier?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it was rather curious that I was going south on purpose to bid my +brother good-bye, and I found that this young soldier was going to India +in my brother's ship."</p> + +<p>"That was curious enough," said Hubert.</p> + +<p>"It was; and when we alighted, after a long and tedious journey, in +London, we went off to the ship together. How very often I have thought +of that lad! He had evidently been well cared for by good religious +parents, but perhaps from his school training, or I cannot tell what, he +was certainly forgetting the instructions they had given him. Oh, how +thoughtless and reckless he was! I watched him, for he had told us a +little of his history; and as I was leaving the ship, I ventured to give +him a word of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> advice, and tried to persuade him never to forget his +duty to his parents: but I cannot tell you more about him. Poor lad! I +never saw him again, nor ever heard of him after he reached India. I +fear he died, for, soon after his regiment landed, many of the soldiers +died of fever, and from what I can remember, I saw amongst the deaths in +an Indian paper a soldier of his name; so, never hearing anything more +of him, I concluded the poor fellow had succumbed to the climate."</p> + +<p>"Why were you so anxious to hear something more of that lad in +particular?" inquired Hubert.</p> + +<p>"Ah! were I to tell you it would be a long story. I don't know, though, +that I need tell all. I think I once told you some of my early history. +Well, I married at an early age, and three years after my marriage I +buried my wife: the sorrow, however, was greatly alleviated by a little +son I had—he was two years old when his mother died, and just able to +dissipate my grief by his innocent prattle. Years passed away: wherever +I went I took my boy. I travelled through Germany and Prussia with him, +and it has often occurred to me that the many people who have been +charmed by the works that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> these travels helped to produce, little +thought under what circumstances they were accomplished. Many a long +journey, where conveyances could not go, have I taken, with my staff in +hand, a little satchel at my side, and that boy on my back. At other +times he has trotted by my side; and very often—most nights, +indeed—with him sleeping in my arms, or seated beside his bed, I have +penned most of my daily wanderings, for I never left him. For eight +years after his mother died I never allowed him to go from my sight; but +then he left me for ever."</p> + +<p>"Not for ever," said Hubert; "you mean, he died? Well, you will go to +him, though he will not return to you."</p> + +<p>"Why do you say so?"</p> + +<p>"Because I believe it, and so do you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do: but now, tell me how it is that I cannot always think so. I +believe it all as well as you do, and yet, when I sit alone and think, +my thoughts are not the same as when we sit and talk together—how is +it?"</p> + +<p>There was an earnestness in the stranger's manner, and also in his eye, +as he put this question to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> Hubert, who, after sitting unmoved for a +minute or two, at last said—</p> + +<p>"I have felt the same many, many times; indeed, there is scarcely a +truth in the Bible that I have read, which, though I believed it at one +time, I have been led to doubt it another. Many a time have I gone out +into the court-yard of my quarters in India, that I might see some fresh +object, because upon everything in my room there seemed to stand out in +large gilded letters the word 'Unbelief.' Turn where I would sometimes, +the very objects and things I wished to forget were always before my +eyes; indeed, blasphemy has been upon my tongue when my heart has +dictated prayers. Terrible hours they have been to me. And sometimes the +falling of a piece of paper, the opening of a door, or the smallest +possible sound you could conceive, has so alarmed me that I have +actually been afraid of myself. No one but myself can know what I +endured. But I don't feel anything of the sort now. <i>Prayer</i> was the +effectual remedy for me, and it will be so for you. I believe that such +doubts and fears are extra mercies sent by God to bring us nearer to +Him; so, when you feel anything of the kind, try<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> what prayer will do. +There is a great deal of seeming prayer that isn't prayer; but when the +heart can feel itself going out upwards,—I mean, when it utters the +words, 'Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief,' depend upon it, that +upon the other side of that petition, written in words of fire, is the +command to the tempter, 'Get thee behind me, Satan!'"</p> + +<p>The stranger sighed, but then, thrusting his hands deeply into his coat +pockets, as was his usual custom when in a thoughtful mood, he sat still +looking over upon the broad blue sea. Hubert sat still beside him, and +as the sailors moved about attending to their various duties, they gave +many a glance at the two friends as they sat together. Ben had told them +all something about these friends, and, though they were not all of the +same way of thinking as Ben was, they imbibed from him an extra amount +of respect for the Captain and the stranger; and had the part of the +deck where they were accustomed to sit been a sacred part, it could not +have been more free from intrusion than it was when they were there; so +Hubert sat and thought; so did his friend, who was the first to speak.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, it is so," he said; "I know it is all true; I shall go to <i>them</i>. +And now let me finish my story. I had returned from the Continent, and +it was in Scotland that I buried my son; he lies beside his mother in +the kirk-yard at Dunkeld; it is a pretty, quiet place, at the foot of +the Grampian mountains, and there they lie—I hope to be buried there +too some day. I did not think at one time that I should have lived thus +long after them, but time has fled on, and it has worked its change in +me. I remember that it was on my first journey after my loss that that +lad rode with us to London. I shall never forget how startled I was when +I first saw him: older, of course, he was, but such an exact resemblance +did he bear to the one I had lost, that—it may have been a +delusion—some of my affection for the dead seemed to centre in him."</p> + +<p>"What was his name?" inquired Hubert.</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell now, I had forgotten it long ago; indeed, I had forgotten +the incident until you brought it back to my memory, it happened so long +ago."</p> + +<p>"I wonder you forgot his name, though," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> Hubert; "but time works +upon the memory, and makes it less retentive."</p> + +<p>"True; especially one that has been tried like mine has. I am not an old +man—I am only a little over fifty, yet see how grey I am. I attribute +it to my memory being overtasked."</p> + +<p>"And to early and deep sorrow, perhaps," replied Hubert.</p> + +<p>"Well, the philosophy of that I neither argue nor dispute: what do you +say to it?"</p> + +<p>Hubert smiled, and, taking from his pocket his "torn Bible," he said, +"Here we have a high authority for the fact that suffering purifies the +heart. Now, whatever effect it may have upon the outward appearance, it +most certainly leaves its impress within—leaves many a deep scar upon +the heart: and we know that it leaves furrows on the brow; yet what a +blessing suffering is!—it is often the last effort that God makes to +reclaim the reckless sinner. When all other efforts have failed, and +nothing seems effectual in bringing down man's proud heart, the Almighty +smites that He may bless. I know it, for I have experienced it all; I +have felt both the scourge and the blessing."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hubert added this latter part because he feared lest his friend should +think him presumptuous; but the stranger added, "Captain Goodwin, I am +sure you must have felt a good deal of what you have often talked about, +and I would give much to be always as thoroughly settled in these +matters as you are. What you say, I feel to be all perfectly true. +Here," he said, placing his hand upon his heart, "it is all right But +here," and he touched his forehead, "there are other thoughts. But if +God spare me, I will come to you again when my business in Portugal is +done, and then we will talk over these matters more fully. The world has +been a wide one to me, but I have only a few friends in it, and am tired +of rambling about it, so I shall return to England and come near to +you."</p> + +<p>"Do," said Hubert; "and may God spare you, and me too. I shall be glad +indeed to see you; the heart grows better by communion, and I think +somehow that there is many a kindred feeling between us; at any rate, +our voyage has been rendered pleasant by our having met, and it will be +a source of pleasure to me, in many a sad hour that I feel will yet +befall me, to look forward to our meeting again."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>This, and much more, formed the matter for conversation between Hubert +and his friend; and when the day had closed, and night drew on, they +passed an hour together by Hubert's lamp; for the heart which had +unburdened itself seemed to have twined its tendrils more firmly round +the wounded soldier.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h2>THE WANDERER'S RETURN.</h2> + +<p> +Lead, kindly light, amid the evening gloom,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Lead thou me on!</span><br /> +The night is dark, and I am far from home;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Lead thou me on!—<span class="smcap">Keble.</span></span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>Nearer and nearer drew the vessel homeward. Hubert and his friend had +that morning kept below; there was a little luggage on a table upon the +deck, and two or three people were standing near it; some of the sailors +were evidently busy about one of the boats, but a casual observer could +not have perceived that anything unusual was going on. Many, nearly all +in the vessel, were gladdening their eyes with the first glimpse they +were having of Europe; and as the coast of Portugal became more +distinct, many hearts burst out with joy, for they were nearing home.</p> + +<p>Hubert and his friend at length came on deck: Lisbon, with its noble bay +and high lands, could be seen in the distance, and the boat was lowered +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> convey the passengers to the small vessel that would take them up +the river to the town. "Farewell!" it was the last word from Hubert's +lips that sounded upon the traveller's ears as he was wafted over the +billows that rolled upon the shores of Portugal; "Farewell!" echoed back +upon the air, and Hubert, drawing a deep sigh, began already to feel +lonely: he had made no other friend in the ship, and he returned to his +cabin; he sat down, and began to think over the conversations he had had +with his friend, and he wondered again and again whether he himself was +not indeed that once reckless boy, who in years gone by had won the +sympathies of the noble heart which had now won his. So many incidents +in that short narrative had a counterpart in his memory, that at last +nothing could persuade him but that it all referred to himself; then how +sorry he felt that he had not told his friend more about himself; and, +less at ease than he had felt for many months, he closed the door of his +cabin, and buried his face in his hands.</p> + +<p>Poor Hubert! His heart was growing as tender as it was once hard, and +recent sickness had unfitted him to encounter, without emotion, the many +visions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> of that youth-time which now came so vividly before him.</p> + +<p>"God grant that I may find them living!" he said earnestly; but then his +memory brought back again some of the forebodings and inward whisperings +which had often, in bygone years, checked for a moment his reckless +course, and his heart told him again that his mother was no more. It +came like a deep sorrow to Hubert, like a mighty wave throwing back +every torrent upon which it rolled; but he had learnt how to contend +with grief, and soon the dim cabin lamp was lighted, and, as night grew +dark, he sat and read the much-treasured portion of his mother's Bible. +He gained comfort as he read page after page, and it may have been that +the lamp grew brighter; at any rate, Hubert's face wore a happier beam, +and when the sailor came into the cabin, he said, "Good evening, your +honour; glad to see your honour looking better and cheerful like."</p> + +<p>"Better, Ben! have I looked ill to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Not ill, exactly, your honour," said Ben, "but a little landsman-like, +just about the time the passengers for Portugal got adrift, when Mr. +Collinton, yer honour's friend, left."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, Ben, I was sorry to lose him; but how late it is! why, I have +been reading two hours."</p> + +<p>With the assistance of the sailor, Hubert retired to rest, but, just as +Ben was leaving the cabin, Hubert requested that he would reach him the +Bible that lay upon the table.</p> + +<p>"I have a better Bible than this, yer honour," said Ben, as he handed +the book; "I mean one that has it all in, not torn as this is; and, if +yer honour likes, I'll fetch it, though it's not to every one I'd lend +it."</p> + +<p>"Why do you offer to lend it to me, then?"</p> + +<p>"Because, yer honour, I'm sure you think a great deal of the Bible, and +it's a pity you haven't one with all in; this has been bad enough used, +at any rate, but some folks don't care how they destroy the Bible. I'm +glad it's got into yer honour's hands; but, if you'll accept the loan of +mine, I shall be proud to lend it to you; there's not a leaf out; it was +the last thing my poor mother ever gave me, and I have used it now over +twenty years."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Ben, I do not wish it; mine is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> torn, I know, but it will do +for me. Thank you all the same. Good night."</p> + +<p>Hubert was glad when he found himself alone; he was in the habit of +talking with Ben, but the sailor's homely remarks were not quite +agreeable to him now. Poor untaught fellow! how nobly he appeared to +rise in that night's shadows; children of penury, perhaps, he and his +mother, yet how rich in affection! Hubert thought many times of that +sailor's Bible; like his own, it was a mother's gift, but it had <i>all</i> +in, while his had been ruthlessly destroyed. Memory brought back many a +long-forgotten scene, when his hard heart strove to rise against the +silent admonitions which the sight of that book was ever wont to give; +and, as he grasped all that was left to him now, a deep and heartfelt +prayer from his penitent heart ascended to the throne of God.</p> + +<p>The vessel in which Hubert sailed had made a quick run to England, and, +in a few days after the passengers left for Portugal, Hubert landed upon +the shores of his native country; and never before had he felt so +lonely. He was home without a home; however, being still under orders +from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> East India Company, he referred to his papers, and then +immediately proceeded to London. Lame, without friends, and amongst +strangers, Hubert longed to be making his way to his own native village, +but he was compelled to tarry some time in London; at length, however, +he received his discharge with a handsome pension, and was at liberty to +go where he pleased.</p> + +<p>Now Hubert felt undecided; he scarcely knew what to do. At one time he +thought of writing home, and telling them he was coming; but to whom +could he write? Then he thought of taking the coach at once home, but +another thought made him abandon that; for his heart was not yet +schooled to the task of facing those he had so cruelly injured.</p> + +<p>Hesitating what to do, another week passed by, and his conscience, at +length, so smote him for lingering, that after arranging about his +luggage, which was still at the custom-house, and which he preferred +should for the present remain there, he set out with one small trunk, +and commenced his journey northward. So many years had passed since +Hubert had come along the road by which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> he was returning, that he might +have been In a foreign land: he remembered nothing, but he thought the +country beautiful; and, when evening came on, he alighted from the +coach, and stayed for the night at a small town. The journey had been +rather too much for him: still he felt anxious to be getting on; so, +when the coach passed through the town on the following day, he +proceeded some distance further. Four days had passed. Hubert, by short +stages, was drawing near his home, and the nearer he came to it, the +more anxious and nervous grew his heart; he would have given much to +have known which of his family remained. Once, years ago, while in a +frenzied mood, when rage and passion overcame him, he was suddenly +called back to reason by a mystic shadow crossing his vision: it may +have been that a heated brain brought before his fierce eye that which +startled him; but the remembrance of that moment had seldom left him, +and he felt certain that his mother, at least, was missing in his +father's household.</p> + +<p>Another short journey had been made, and a candle was placed upon the +parlour table in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> little village inn where Hubert, tired and weary, +intended staying for the night. Many of the villagers had seen him leave +the coach at the inn door; he was wrapped in a blue cloak, and walked +lame, resting upon a stick; his bearing, perhaps, or it may have been a +whisper, told them that he was a soldier, and there was a fair chance of +a good evening for the landlord of the King George.</p> + +<p>One by one the parlour received its guests, and more candles were +brought in; a log too—for it was the month of October—found its way to +the fire, and the landlord told his wife to see to the customers, for he +was going to join the company in the parlour.</p> + +<p>Hubert saw with some uneasiness the people coming in, and he would +gladly have retired to rest; but his coming was an event they were +unwilling to let pass unobserved, and they gathered round him with so +much kindness and sympathy, that Hubert felt constrained to stay with +them.</p> + +<p>The old arm-chair in the corner, which was sacred to two +purposes—namely, once a year, when they had beaten the bounds, the +vicar sat in it in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> the tent to partake of the roast beef, which was +bountifully provided for those good old observers of ancient customs; +and, once a year, when the village club was held the lord of the manor +occupied it again. Duly polished every week was that dark oak chair, and +not even the sage-looking cat attempted to usurp it. This evening, that +honoured seat was drawn up to the fire, a large cushion was placed in +it, and there the tired soldier rested.</p> + +<p>They saw he was lame, and one went and fetched a soft stool for his +wounded leg; then as they sat around him, with their honest sympathetic +hearts beating warmly towards the brave defenders of their country, what +could Hubert do but tell them of the battles won, and many incidents +that make up the soldier's life in India? He had much to tell, and they +listened eagerly to him till the hour grew late, and Hubert felt that a +soldier's heart still beat in his bosom, and the fire of his youth had +not died out. They felt it too, but their enthusiasm was tempered by the +constant reference that Hubert made to the God who had preserved him. +They parted for the night as the village clock struck eleven, and many +of them wondered, as they walked homeward,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> where he was going, and why +he was travelling alone—questions they had not yet ventured to ask; but +they promised each other before they parted that they would come again +to the inn on the morrow.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h2>HOME AT LAST.</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My father's house once more,</span><br /> +In its own moonlight beauty! yet around<br /> +Something amidst the dewy calm profound<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Broods, never marked before.</span> +</p> +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">* * * *</span></p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">My soul grows faint with fear,</span><br /> +Even as if angel steps had mark'd the sod;<br /> +I tremble when I move—the voice of God<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is in the foliage here.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>Hubert was not much refreshed when the morrow came; the weather had +changed during the night, and the rain fell heavily, and his wounded leg +was so painful that he determined upon not proceeding on his journey, +but requested permission to walk in the well-kept secluded garden at the +back of the house, if the rain cleared off.</p> + +<p>It was a dreary morning, but about noon the sun shone out, and Hubert, +leaning upon his staff, bent his steps to the snug little summer-house +in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> garden. It was a quiet spot, and Hubert was glad to be there +alone. The storm was over, the few remaining autumn flowers were fading, +and the leaves were falling thickly from the trees, and Hubert, as he +looked upon the scene around him, drew a deep sigh, and taking from his +pocket his "torn Bible," began to read.</p> + +<p>Absorbed in what he was doing, he did not see a little boy approach the +summer-house, and it was not until a small spade fell accidentally from +the child's hand that he noticed him.</p> + +<p>"Ah! do you live here?" inquired Hubert</p> + +<p>"No, sir, but grandfather does, and he told me you were here."</p> + +<p>"Did he send you to me?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, but he told me you had fought a great many battles, and I +wanted to see you because I am going to be a soldier—when I'm a man, I +mean."</p> + +<p>"How old are you now?"</p> + +<p>"I'm eight, sir; but, you know, I shall be older soon, and perhaps as +big as you are."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so," said Hubert, with a smile; "and what's your name?"</p> + +<p>"Frank, sir—Frank Lyons—the same as father's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> and grandfather's; but +they are not soldiers, you know. I am going to be a soldier." And then, +fixing his eyes upon a medal which Hubert wore upon his breast, he +eagerly asked all about it. Hubert was amused at the little fellow, and +answered many an inquiry that he made, and as he was listening to +something Hubert was saying, all at once he caught sight of the "torn +Bible," and taking it in his hand, he said—</p> + +<p>"Is this a Bible, sir? Oh, how it's torn! Did It get torn like this in +the battles?"</p> + +<p>"No, child; but," pointing to the hole in the cover, "it got that in the +last battle I was in."</p> + +<p>Frank looked for some time at the hole the bullet had made; then looking +up into Hubert's face, he said, thoughtfully—</p> + +<p>"Sir, don't you think God was very good to take care of you in the +battles?"</p> + +<p>"He was, child; He has always been good to me."</p> + +<p>"Then why did you let any one be so wicked as to tear this Bible so?"</p> + +<p>Hubert kissed the boy's cheek: he could not answer the home-thrust, but +taking the Bible from his hand, said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"Good bye, Frank; now run away home."</p> + +<p>The child went away as he was desired, but Hubert's heart reproached him +in a moment; he thought he had been harsh, so, bending forward, he +called the little fellow back.</p> + +<p>There was a tear in the boy's eye when he returned, and stood gazing up +again into Hubert's face, which convinced Hubert that he had +disappointed him; so, taking his little hand, he said—</p> + +<p>"Frank, do you wish to ask me anything more?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I want to ask all about being a soldier."</p> + +<p>Hubert could not resist, nor refuse to listen to the inquiries of that +little heart. And there they sat—the once disobedient, sinning, +reckless son, and the little artless child. It relieved the older bosom +to talk of the past, and Hubert told into that little ear more than he +had told any one before. It was a strange sympathy; but the boy drew +closer to him, leant his little arms upon the veteran's knee as he gazed +earnestly into his face, while Hubert told him something of his own +youth-time, and about being a soldier.</p> + +<p>"Then you have been a soldier longer than I've been born," said Frank. +"How glad your mother<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> will be to see you! I think I should run all the +way; I would not stop at all till I got home."</p> + +<p>"But could you run, Frank, if you were as lame as I am?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, I could not; but then I would ride—I would never stop +anywhere until I got home."</p> + +<p>"But if you were in pain what would you do?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I would not mind it at all; soldiers ought never to mind pain. When +Charley wheeled the big barrow over my feet I did not cry, though he +hurt me dreadfully, because I am going to be a soldier. But that is +grandfather calling me. Good bye, sir."</p> + +<p>In an instant the boy was gone; and Hubert, bending forward, looked out +along the side pathway down which he had run. He watched him until he +was out of sight, and then his thoughts turned upon himself. Why was he +contented in tarrying there? How was it that he felt no spirit to hurry +onward? He looked up at the sky; the clouds were breaking, and the sun +shone brightly.</p> + +<p>"Oh that I were at home," he uttered, "and all the past forgiven! How +can I face it?" But no good thought came into his mind to help him in +his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> difficulty; and he sat for some time gazing vacantly into the +garden.</p> + +<p>"Yes, little Frank," he suddenly exclaimed, "they will be glad to see +me; I'll not stay here." And taking his stick in his hand, he drew his +cloak around him, and went into the house. The good people were somewhat +unwilling to part with their visitor, but Hubert was determined to go; +and, as he parted with the kind people, they were astonished to see him +kiss little Frank, and then to hear him say—</p> + +<p>"Good bye, Frank. I'm not going to stop any more till I get home. Learn +to read your Bible; and I hope you will make a good soldier."</p> + +<p>The old landlord felt honoured at the notice Hubert had taken of his +grandson, and as he removed his own little old black hat from his head, +he turned to the child, and said—</p> + +<p>"Your bow, Franky; make a bow to his honour—it may be he's a general."</p> + +<p>General or not, it mattered but little to Frank, for, taking Hubert's +hand, he said—</p> + +<p>"Good bye, sir; I <i>will</i> try and be a good soldier."</p> + +<p>Many little incidents, besides the one here recorded, befell Hubert as +he journeyed homeward;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> and, though he was long upon the way, he might +have been longer, had not little Frank's words—"How glad your mother +will be to see you!"—so rung in his ears, that he felt compelled to go +on; and the next afternoon to that on which he left the village inn, his +heart began to beat as he thought he recognized some old places. Ah, +yes! there was the old white toll-gate—he knew it was just one mile +from his home; so here he alighted from the coach, and, leaving his +luggage with the man who kept the gate, he walked gently on his way.</p> + +<p>The day was closing, the labourers were returning from the field, and +Hubert looked earnestly into the face of many he met, to see if he could +recognize any of them. He did not in his heart quite wish to be known, +but the incentive to find some friend of other years was powerful, and +there was a slight hope for a familiar face; he, however, met no one +that he knew, so he turned aside into a shady lane. Hubert knew the +place well; often in his boyish days that lane had been his +play-place—it was his favourite haunt; and there now he sat down upon +the same old grey stone, round which so many memories of the past still +hovered. From that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> large stone seat nearly every house in the village +could be seen, and there in the valley it lay, in all the same calm +beauty in which it had often risen before his view as he lay down +beneath the sultry skies of India; there, too, was the cottage, with its +white walls, over which the ivy still roamed at will—the same garden, +not a path or tree seemed changed; there was the same white-painted +gate, near which his family stood when he said the last good bye to +them; everything, indeed, looked the same—there appeared no change, +save that which his heart led him to expect; and his coat felt tighter +than usual across his chest as he looked down from the hill upon his +early home. He knew the way well—he saw the narrow pathway that would +lead him out against the gate of his father's house, and yet he had not +courage to go there.</p> + +<p>Night drew on, and still Hubert sat upon the stone; many persons passed +him, and more than one gazed earnestly at him, for his dress was not +familiar to them; and he heard them whisper as they passed, "Who is he?" +A few, more curious than the others, returned to take another look at +him, but he was gone. "I am a coward," he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> whispered to himself, and +in the closing shadow of the night had trodden the narrow pathway, and +reached the white gate of his home. The walk down the hill-side had +wearied him, and he stayed a moment to rest upon his staff before he +entered. He may have stayed longer than he intended, for an aged man, +leaning also upon a staff, startled him by saying—</p> + +<p>"You appear tired, sir; pray, have you far to go?"</p> + +<p>"Not far; I hope to lodge in the village to-night. Does Mrs. Bird keep +the White Swan now?"</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Bird? Nay, she's in yonder churchyard; it's many a year since she +died. You may have been here before, but it must be long since."</p> + +<p>"Very long," said Hubert, with a sigh. "It is more than twenty years. +Since then I have been fighting in the wars in India. Sir, I am a +soldier."</p> + +<p>"A soldier!" said the old man. "Ah! and from India—come in and rest a +bit. From India, did you say? I once had a son there—come in, talk with +me, if only for an hour. It may be that I may hear something of my boy. +He went away nearly twenty-four years ago, and I never heard from him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +afterwards. Sometimes I think he is dead, and then sometimes I don't. +The neighbours feel sure he is dead, but sometimes I have an idea that I +shall yet hear from him—I scarcely dare to hope it, though. Come, +soldier, don't stand here, the evening is cold: walk up to the house; my +little Richard will know where you can lodge for the night. He knows +every one in the village."</p> + +<p>Without uttering a single word, Hubert followed the old man. Richard saw +them coming, and, at his grandfather's bidding, drew another chair to +the fire for the stranger.</p> + +<p>The old man changed his shoes, and then, putting his feet upon a stool +before the fire, turned his face to Hubert, as he said—</p> + +<p>"There was a time when the very name of a soldier was hateful to me, but +circumstances change one. I had a care for all my lads, but for that one +that went into the army I had the most care, and it was better, perhaps, +that he should be taken from me. For more than twenty years, though, I +refused to be comforted for his loss, but I now do feel that it was +God's will, for that boy was our eldest, and we thought a deal too much +of him until he rebelled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> against us. He often stood between us and our +Maker—I mean he had our first and best thoughts. It will not do, +soldier, for the heart to worship more than one, and that one must be +God. Our poor lad, God forgive him! paid us ill for our care—he was +ungrateful—he forgot us. Bitterly, indeed, we felt the truth of the +proverb, that 'sharper than a serpent's tooth is an unthankful child,'" +And the old man brushed away a tear; then, looking into the stranger's +face, he added, "Did you ever hear of a Hubert Goodwin in India?"</p> + +<p>"Hubert Goodwin?" repeated Hubert, with a husky voice. "Goodwin?—but +why should you think your son is dead, or that he has forgotten you? He +may have written, or something may have prevented him. His letters may +have been lost, or a thousand things happened, and he may have regretted +the silence as much as you have."</p> + +<p>"Is it possible," replied the old man, much excited, "that my poor lad +ever thought I had forgotten him?" and he bowed his whitened head.</p> + +<p>Before this little scene was half finished, the unworthiness of the part +he was playing smote Hubert's heart; he had never intended offering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> any +excuse for his past misconduct, and he felt so self-convicted at the +sight of the grief he had so unwittingly caused, that, raising up the +old man's head, he said, with deep emotion, "No, father! father, I had +forgotten—not you."</p> + +<p>"What, Hubert!" cried the old man, pushing him back, and wildly gazing +at him. "Hubert! my Hubert! No!" Then he laughed, and then, pointing +upward, he added: "Perhaps he's up in heaven with the others, poor lad. +I'll tell him there that I never forgot him: poor lad, he'll forgive me; +I never forgot him."</p> + +<p>While the old man was speaking, young Richard whispered something to +Hubert, who immediately moved behind his father's high-backed chair.</p> + +<p>"Grandfather, dear," said the boy, as he kissed his cheek, "why do you +cry?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, boy. Oh, yes, just some thoughts of your uncle Hubert! +but—" and he stared about, "where is the soldier? where is he, Richard? +Was I dreaming? Was it Hubert?—has he returned?—where, where is he? +Fetch him, Richard."</p> + +<p>"I'm here, father;" and Hubert, as well as he was able, knelt before the +old man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Hubert!" were the only words that were uttered, for the recognition +in one moment was complete; long, very long, the old man wept upon the +bosom of his son, and Hubert wept too; young Richard cried, perhaps +because his dear old grandfather did; but Martha, the faithful servant +of forty years, knew all the sorrows of her good old master—knew, too, +all about the wandering sheep that had come home. She remembered when he +was a little lamb in the fold, and she mingled the overflowings of her +heart with the others; then she went and closed all the casement +shutters, for they wished to have the joy of that first meeting to +themselves. The prodigal had indeed returned, but friends and neighbours +must not come and make merry yet—the fatted calf must not be killed +till to-morrow.</p> + +<p>No one intruded upon the scenes of Hubert's home on the evening of his +return. The joy of once again seeing him—the answer to so many +prayers—came as a new link in the chain of the old man's existence; he +would have no supplication, no confession from his erring son: it was +enough that the wanderer had returned; and it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> was <i>more</i> than enough; +it was a joy that he had often prayed for, though his hope of knowing it +had long since died, that Hubert might become a child of God. Poor old +man! how tenderly and lovingly he strained his long-lost son to his +bosom! and the most severe reproofs, denied forgiveness, or the +bitterest reproaches, would not have been so hard for Hubert to endure +as the tender affection of his deeply-injured father.</p> + +<p>Night closed around, and the old man sat later by the fireside than he +had done for years, for much of life's vigour had returned with his +hopes and joy; he breathed the evening prayers with a deeper fervour; he +joined in the evening hymn with a voice less tremulous than the others, +and he walked without his staff to his bed.</p> + +<p>Poor bereaved heart! nearly all had been taken from him; none save the +little orphan grandson had been left for him to love; the waters of +affliction had rolled deeply over his head; but the heart, consecrated +to heaven, had learnt to bow meekly to the rod, and now the most bitter +cup of his life had been filled with joy. "Thy will be done," was the +old man's closing prayer, as he lay down upon his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> pillow that night, +and there was a holy calmness upon his brow, for peace and gratitude +filled his heart.</p> + +<p>Different, indeed, were the feelings Hubert endured; and, as he shut +himself in his bed-room—the bed-room of his boyhood—there was a deep +struggle in his heart. More vividly than ever came the sins of his past +life before him, and great indeed was the remorse he felt for the long +years of woe he had caused. How he longed to tell all his repentance to +his father! but the old man had forgiven him without: it would not, +however, wipe away the sin he had committed; and the remembrance was +like an inward fire—burning and burning continually. There was One, +however, who <i>would</i> listen to his woe; and Hubert, on bended knee, +poured it out from his swelling heart; no eloquence, no effort was +needed; and as the hours of that night of deep repentance passed on, +Hubert drew nearer and nearer to his Father in heaven, and the chastened +heart became lightened; then he sank to sleep as calmly as his father +had done.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h2>MEMORIES OF CHILDISH DAYS.</h2> + +<p> +I stand on the brink of a river,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The river of life to me,</span><br /> +Where the billows of memory quiver,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And rise and fall like the sea.</span><br /> +<br /> +I read in their tremulous motion<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The records of many a year,</span><br /> +And like voices that come from the ocean<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Are the muffled words I hear.—<span class="smcap">Anon.</span></span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>A bright morning beamed upon Hubert as he awoke from his slumber in his +childhood's home. He looked round the room; somehow there were many +things in it that he could recollect. There was the dark oak chest, with +curious figures carved upon the front, which had often been a source of +terror to him in early days, because on one occasion he was told that +they were the likenesses of certain naughty boys, whose remains he +verily believed were within that black chest, and though for many years +he had forgotten all about it, the story, and the nurse who told it, +came all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> back fresh into his memory. Then there was the old-fashioned +furniture upon the bed. "Why!" and he looked at it again, "it is the +same, the very same that covered me when last I slept here." And that +large arm-chair behind the door, he knew <i>that</i>; he remembered that it +was taken up there when his grandfather died, and he also remembered +that it was where he always put his clothes when he went to bed. Many +other things there were that he remembered: very little, indeed, seemed +changed; and, as he looked round, his eyes lighted upon a stick, a bow, +and a kite, tied together, hanging on the wall. He arose from his bed, +and began to dress himself, scanning as he did so the various objects in +his room. Presently he saw a small picture over the mantel-shelf, and +went to look at it. He started back—it was intended for himself. +Whether it had been a good likeness he was not able to judge, but it +represented him as a young soldier just going from home, and beneath it +was written, "Our Hubert." It had been drawn from memory, and placed +there in remembrance of the lost one. Beneath it, on the mantel-shelf, +was a little box, and Hubert raised the lid. Something more! Yes, +something more.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> In that box lay a pair of slippers; they were little +ones—a child of eight years old might have worn them; and Hubert, as he +was just closing the lid, saw written inside it, "Our Hubert's." "Mine, +mine!" he said, as he took them out. "Not mine!" But then some flash of +memory lighted up the past, and he thought he could remember when they +were his. Over these little slippers the soldier sat down and wept; for +the truth had suddenly come to him, and he pictured his parents, +gathering up every little thing that he had owned, remembering all about +him, except that he had gone away and forgotten them; placing from the +heart upon canvas the features of the rebellious one, and loving him +fondly to the last. Perhaps over these little slippers they had shed +many a tear; since they had covered the little feet, those feet had gone +astray. What a dear relic they were of the past! how they reminded him +of a time when he was pure and innocent! And he said, as he brushed away +the tears from his cheeks—</p> + +<p>"Oh! If I had only died then, I should have caused no sorrow, nor felt +any, but been in heaven with the angels."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, Hubert, you would have caused sorrow," some spirit near him might +have whispered; "first-born of that dwelling, they could not spare thee. +He who gave thee as a blessing at the first, means thee to be a blessing +still."</p> + +<p>Hubert replaced the slippers, and went downstairs to meet his father.</p> + +<p>The old man was there first. Years had passed since he had risen so +early; but new life seemed to have been given to him; and, as he met his +long-lost son at the door, he forgot that he was no longer the little +child of his love; he forgot, too, all the sorrow he had been to him; +forgot the long years he had mourned him; and clasped him fondly to his +heart.</p> + +<p>"Hubert," said his father, "it is thirty-nine years this very day since +I received you, my first-born child; a second time you have been born to +me, and we shall do well to rejoice. Your mother, dear sainted one, I +would that she were here with us; but we will not wish her back—she is +happier in heaven, and we will not sorrow because she's gone; it would +seem like reproaching that good God who, in His mercy, has restored you +to me. Yes, boy, I know<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> well that she bitterly wept your loss—your +absence, I mean; but she wept the death of other dear ones, and God took +her to them: we shall, I hope, join them soon. Heaven bless you!"</p> + +<p>It was a happy day, sanctified by a holy joy. Many friends, including +the good minister of the parish, who, thirty-nine years before, received +Hubert at the font, and prayed to Heaven to bless him, brought their +meed of welcome to the wanderer, and that faithful servant of his +heavenly Master spoke comfort to his aged fellow-pilgrim's heart.</p> + +<p>"Master Goodwin," he said, "I told you, years ago, that if ye pray and +do indeed believe, that ye shall receive—it shall be as ye ask; it is +the prayer without faith that wins no blessing. God does not give us all +we ask, because we are sinning creatures, and know not what we ask; but +then, how many of us pray for things that we never want! and if we had +only ourselves to judge what is best for us, instead of receiving a +blessing, we should often receive a curse. When the heart asks God to +teach it to pray, and then asks a blessing, believing that if it is +God's will that prayer will be granted, depend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> upon that, that prayer +<i>is</i> answered; if the actual thing is not given, the heart receives +something in another way—at any rate, it <i>does</i> get a blessing. How +many years you have prayed for that son, and how many times you +murmured, and thought God had forgotten! but He never forgets; He has +remembered all your grief, and answered, what prayer? Why, the prayer of +faith. If you look back you will find that it is only of late years that +you have borne your sorrows without murmuring; they have been heavy, we +know; yet, for how many years the gilding of your prayers was tarnished +by the breath of sorrowful repining? and perhaps it was when your heart +could really say 'Thy will be done,' that the cloud of your troubles +began to disperse, and the blessing was given. Oh that men would always +praise the Lord for His goodness! How well He knows all our need! He +knows when to smite and when to heal, and they who continue faithful +unto death, to them shall that mysterious Providence be more fully +revealed. If much sorrow has been your portion, so has much blessing. It +is better to have saints in heaven than rebellious children on earth: +and God has been very gracious to you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He has, indeed," said Hubert's father. "I feel it more truly now." And +as he grasped the faithful pastor's hand, he said, "He gave you to this +parish as one of my blessings, and your prayers have perhaps helped to +restore me my son. Pray with us now, for our joy may be too great."</p> + +<p>They knelt: a deep and earnest prayer fell from the pastor's lips upon +the stillness of the hour, and the tear upon the cheek told its power on +the heart. The prayer was over, and the good man, bidding them adieu for +the present, left them to rejoice over the once lost one, while he, in +the spirit of his mission, withdrew himself from the world, and thanked +God for having brought back the wandering sheep.</p> + +<p>Hubert's return had filled his father with such joy that he would +scarcely tell him anything about the family, so anxious was he to hear +all about himself; and it was some time after his arrival before he +heard of all the bereavement of that household. All gone! all whom he +had left in the beauty and strength of youth, when he went out to India, +had been swept to the tomb; not one left round that desolate hearth, +except the little orphan Richard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> now nine years old, the only child of +his second brother, who, with his young wife, had sunk into an early +grave. One by one the hand of death had taken them from the fireside, +and it was now his turn to mourn them. He saw plainly now how it was +that his father had received him so fondly. Poor old man! his home had +been sadly lonely; the household gods had been all broken, and his aged +heart nearly so. Hubert looked at his father as he told the history of +each one as they had departed, and conscience told him that there was +before him a braver warrior than he had ever seen before—one who had +fought a stern battle, and had ever been in the thickest of the fight. +Hubert's heart beat; he felt that he had added heavily to the burden and +heat of his father's day, and, falling upon his knee before his parent, +he cried, as his hands covered his face, "Oh, father, forgive me!"</p> + +<p>"Forgive you! Oh, Hubert, did I forget to say I had forgiven you long +ago? There is nothing now to forgive, but I bless you for coming home. +Let the past be the past. Bless you for coming home to me! God is good; +He gave, He has a right to take, but He has given you to me again." But +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> truth seemed to shine upon the old man's mind, and putting his arm +round Hubert's neck, he said—</p> + +<p>"Ah! well, it's all forgiven; you might have done other than you have +done, perhaps; but never mind;" and he wept tears of joy upon the bosom +of his son. This little rebuke from Hubert's father was more welcome +than the caresses he received, and Hubert opened his heart upon it, and +began to tell his father of things which had befallen him in India; +hitherto he had seldom spoken, except in answer to his father's many +questions, for there was a weight of remorse in his bosom which nothing +yet had removed; but now he was assured of his father's forgiveness, and +a smile lighted up his hitherto sad face, as they sat round the fire +telling many a story of his distant home; his father was delighted, and +young Richard drew his little chair beside his veteran uncle, to listen +also. Many a week passed by; Hubert had ever something to tell his +father, but of all the history of the past, or of all the fame he had +won, nothing was so dear to the old man's heart as the "torn Bible;" he +made Hubert tell again and again all about it, its long neglect, and its +abuse. The field of battle, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> capture, and the rescue from the +Indians, and even the dreadful night in the jungle, when Hubert's +life-blood was draining from his wounds, were nothing compared with the +strong will broken, the heart subdued, and the torn, despised Bible +giving back a new and better life to the prodigal. Oh, how the old man +loved to dwell upon that! many prayers from the long since silent heart +had been answered then, and he ever repeated in Hubert's ear the words, +"Oh, yes, she knew all about it, for she was one of the angels in heaven +that rejoiced when you repented."</p> + +<p>Hubert grew happier in the society of his father; and though at times a +kind of reflection on his past life would cast a sort of thoughtful +sadness over his brow, yet his health daily improved, and his heart +became more and more attuned to the will of God.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h2>AT REST.</h2> + +<p> +Gales from heaven, if so He will,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sweeter melodies can wake</span><br /> +On the lonely mountain rill<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Than the meeting waters make.</span><br /> +Who hath the Father and the Son,<br /> +May be left, but not alone.—<span class="smcap">Keble.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<p>Years rolled away. Hubert's history in the village became almost a thing +of the past; the young, who had paid a sort of homage to him for his +warrior fame, had almost forgotten it, and had grown up to reverence him +for his goodness; and the aged, as he sat by many a dying bed, blessed +him with their latest breath. Ever, day by day, did Hubert take his +staff and go forth to comfort some less favoured brother; and the "torn +Bible"—guide of his present life—accusing, yet dear relic of his past, +soothed many a departing spirit, and helped to ripen his own for +Eternity.</p> + +<p>Since Hubert's reunion with his father, he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> found many new friends, +but he did not forget his old ones: to those in India he occasionally +wrote, and occasionally received letters; still, it was a source of +great regret to him that he did not hear anything of the companion of +his voyage, with whom he parted off Lisbon. While the first year after +his return home was passing, he scarcely thought anything of not hearing +from him; but the second year, and third, and now the fifth had come, +without tidings of his friend, and, with a pang of deep and silent +regret, he began to conclude that he had died; though notwithstanding +this thought, there was a lingering hope that his friend would yet come; +and it was sometimes when his heart felt sad, that the wish for his +friend became strong; perhaps upon the wish grew the hope; and then +Hubert would take his staff and wander up the hill-side, out to the +little white toll-gate, and then walk a mile or two down the broad road +that led to the south. There was a rude seat by the roadside, formed of +gnarled and moss-grown branches intermixed with stones; beside it was a +huge stone trough, which a kindly mountain stream kept ever filled with +water; over it, shading it from the sun,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> branched a stately oak; and +this spot was a resting-place for man and beast. Hubert often walked +there, sat down and rested beneath the tree, and looked with longing +eyes down the road; still his friend came not, and he as often returned +sadder than he went. How little he thought that his father had trodden +that same road with a heavy heart for many a year, in the fond hope of +meeting him, though there was but little probability in either instance +that the hope would be realized! one moment's reflection would have told +the heart so, but the heart under such circumstances seems unwilling to +reflect—or even if it does, the effect is transitory, and the heart +hopes on again against hope; and it is a blessed thing, this hope—for +how often in the dark hour it throws a ray of light upon the darkness +that is felt, and keeps a soul from despair!</p> + +<p>Hubert had been six years at home, and for many months had not been +along the road where he was wont to go; indeed, he had sighed over the +memory of his friend, and at last had ceased to expect him; but now an +unexpected joy had befallen him, for Mr. Collinton was coming. Hubert +was delighted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> and he read the letter many times over; his father was +delighted too, for Hubert had confided to that parent, whom he now so +loved and honoured, all his secret about the stranger, and the old man +partook of the longing to see the friend, a portion of whose life had +been so strangely linked with that of his son.</p> + +<p>Hubert had often wondered how it was that the letter which he had +written to his friend, telling him of his safe arrival at home, had not +been answered; but it appeared that that letter had been duly received, +and that Mr. Collinton, acting upon its contents, was now, after a long +delay, making his way to Hulney.</p> + +<p>One morning, after rising somewhat earlier than usual, Hubert took his +staff, went up the hill-side, and took his way towards the seat by the +roadside. It was still early, yet Hubert appeared to be in haste; he +passed the white toll-gate, wished good morning to the man who kept it, +and stayed a moment to inquire what time the coach would pass by, and +then he went on his way again until he came to the seat by the roadside, +when he sat down and looked with an anxious eye for the coach coming.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +Mr. Collinton had not told him the exact day that he would come, but +this was the last day of the week, and Hubert felt sure that it would +bring him, and he was not wrong. The coach, with its living burden, came +at last, and Hubert and his friend met again.</p> + +<p>"Leave the luggage at my house," said Hubert to the coachman, whom he +now well knew, and then he and his friend sat down beneath the shady +tree. How glad they were to meet again! and then Hubert soon told him +that he was none other than the soldier lad who in years gone by had won +his heart. The stranger listened with astonishment; gazed at him with a +deeper earnestness than ever, and tears rushed to his eyes as he grasped +his hands. And why did he feel so? There was nothing now in the face of +that war-worn soldier which reminded him of the dear one he had buried, +nothing now to make him feel, as he once said he had felt, that some of +his love for the dead seemed to centre in him; and yet he did love him, +and it was to find him again that he had given up the world, and taken +his way to that little northern village; for he had felt, ever since he +had parted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> with Hubert off Lisbon, all the emptiness of life without +pure religion. He had felt a void in his heart that nothing around him +could fill; and though he tarried longer upon the continent than he had +intended, he ever thought of Hubert; and as he told him, as they sat +together by the roadside, it was his memory and the hope of seeing him +again that had blessed his life, and made him long to join him, that +they might read and study God's Word.</p> + +<p>"Why have you been so long in coming?" asked Hubert. "I thought, at +most, your absence would be but one year; but when it was two, then +three, and now nearly six, I gave you up."</p> + +<p>"And thought me dead, perhaps?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sometimes I thought it might be so, for I could not think you had +forgotten."</p> + +<p>"No, no, you are right there; I never could forget: but travelling in +Portugal and Spain, those countries full of such deep interest, I know I +tarried; but when I was uneasy here in my heart, and my thoughts would +turn nowhere but to you, I prepared to make my way to you. Sometimes an +opportunity lost threw off my plans; sometimes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> the desponding mood I +had fallen into was suddenly dispersed by some event; and so I wandered +up and down, amongst the many beauties and enchantments of Spain—not +forgetting you, my friend, but tempting Providence by deferring to come +to you. Oh! it was a sin, and I felt it; but I hadn't you there, nor any +one to say the words you might have said. And so I lingered; but I gave +in at last. I was not happy there; and it has struck me many a time that +there is many a man in this world whose life has been a continuous +fluctuation between right and wrong—knowing what was right, being +anxious to do what was right, and yet ever doing wrong: how is it?"</p> + +<p>"My friend," said Hubert, putting his hand upon the stranger's knee, +"the Bible says that the heart of man is inclined to do evil; and is it +not so? Still, there is that in man which makes him love to do good—do +right, I mean; and, as far as I can judge, man generally makes an effort +to do so. But here is the mistake: he too often has a false idea of what +<i>is</i> right, and follows his own notions of right and wrong, rather than +the standard laid down in God's Word. His inclination to do evil makes +him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> too often try to make out that evil to be good; and so he goes on, +spending a whole life in error, while all the time he fancies he is +perfectly right. When a man's heart is not right with God, he must ever +be going wrong; but, somehow, we don't like to be told it—I know I did +not. Think of the years I spent in India in all kinds of sin, and all +the time I wished the world to think well of me, and tried to persuade +myself that I was perfectly right. But what a life it was! How many +things occurred to tell me that I was wrong! but I would not hear, and +continued a wicked course, trying to please man, and caring nothing +whatever about God. I was worse than the heathen."</p> + +<p>"How? you had the Bible with you in India."</p> + +<p>"I had," replied Hubert, "and therefore I was the more guilty and +responsible for the life I led there. I cannot look upon man without the +Bible as I do upon him with: it is the <i>only</i> source from which we can +draw a perfect rule of life; and if man has it not, how can he know? +Whether he reads it or not is another matter: if he have it at all he is +responsible."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the stranger, "I shall do now; we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> can talk these matters +over together; somehow, I know all this, but yet I cannot get on with it +alone. How is your father? is he still living?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and will be glad to see you; I have told him all we know of each +other, and he is waiting now for our coming; for, like myself, he +thought you would be here to-day."</p> + +<p>As Hubert finished speaking, he and his friend rose from his seat and +walked to the village; and as they walked along Hubert told him of the +devastation that Death had caused in his home, and begged him, as he was +the last of his family, to make his dwelling with them.</p> + +<p>It was a goodly welcome that met the stranger at Hubert's home; and +there was so much peace and happiness, sanctified by that religion which +he longed for, that he soon became as one of the family; and by paying a +yearly visit to the grave at Dunkeld, where he had buried his loved +ones, he lived for ten years with Hubert and his father; and when he +died, they mourned the loss of a Christian and a friend, and buried him +as he had wished in the grave of his wife and son. Five years more were +meted out to Hubert's father, and then they laid him with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> dear ones +gone before, and carved a simple record upon the stone that covered the +grave where he and his wife lay.</p> + +<p>"They sleep in Jesus," was all that Hubert told the world of them, and +very soon the grass and flowers covered that fond testimony.</p> + +<p>Between Hubert and Dr. Martin, in India, a warm friendship continued for +many years; it ever cheered Hubert's heart to hear from his distant +friend, for he owed him much, and heard from him gladly; but one day, +after a longer silence than usual, there came a letter written by a +stranger's hand, bearing the unwelcome news that the good man was gone. +He had spent a long life of usefulness, and, in the land which had +always been the field of his labour, he lay down and died. It was not +his lot to hang up his weapons of warfare, and rest upon the laurels he +had won; his Master was the King of kings, in whose cause he spent all +his life. How could he rest? There was no reward on earth a sufficient +recompense for his labours; and though his body now rests in an unknown +distant tomb, yet, far away in the city of the great King, he has been +crowned with an immortal diadem. How many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> quiet unobtrusive Christians +there are, of whom the world knows nothing, who live to reclaim and +guide aright their weak and sinning brethren, and though they live and +appear to die unknown, they give to many a dying bed peace, when there +would be no peace; and they are often the ten—ay, the five—that save +the city.</p> + +<p>Hubert was sad at the news of his friend's death, but he knew where he +should meet him again, and not as he felt when he remembered the young +sinning companion of his youth, the never-forgotten Harris; with a +grateful thankful heart he could think of him in heaven, and hope to +meet him there.</p> + +<p>Once more let us turn to Hubert's home. Young Richard, dear good boy, +when he grew to manhood, married the playfellow of his childhood, the +orphan granddaughter of the village pastor, and they lived in the old +house with Hubert; and when, at last, the veteran's career was ended, +they followed him with many tears to the old churchyard, and Richard had +that seventh white stone carved to his memory. It is but a simple +unemblazoned record of one departed, yet travellers say it is a strange +device, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> torn ill-used book, and ever and anon some one asks its +meaning.</p> + +<p>Our story is ended, and we would ask the reader to remember that +Hubert's life is not a fiction. And shouldst thou ever wander to that +old churchyard, sit down amidst its shadows, amongst its silent dead; +perchance a fitful vision of thine own life may flit past thee, some +whisper may re-echo a mother's prayer or a father's counsel, and it may +not be altogether unprofitable to thee to remember the history of Hubert +and</p> + +<p>"THE TORN BIBLE."</p> +<hr style="width: 75%;" /> + +<h4>PRINTED BY<br /> +WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,<br /> +LONDON AND BECCLES.<br /></h4> +<hr style="width: 75%;" /> +<h2>A Selected List</h2> +<h3>of</h3> +<h1>New and Recent Publications</h1> +<h3>from</h3> +<h1>Messrs. Frederick Warne & Co.'s<br /> +Catalogue.<br /></h1> + +<hr style="width: 75%;" /> +<h2>ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR +BOYS.</h2> + +<p>The Orchid Seekers. A Story of Adventure +in Borneo. By Ashmore Russan and Fredk. +Boyle. With Sixteen Original Illustrations by Alfred +Pearse and M. F. Hartley. In large crown 8vo, cloth +gilt, bevelled boards, price 5s.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"Boys will be grateful to the joint authors.... No reader can complain +of lack of interest or sensation in the narrative...."—<i>Daily Telegraph.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot">"A capital story of adventure, such as would delight most boys, and +gratify many of their elders.... Written with great spirit. The +authors are to be congratulated on producing a story full of thrilling +incident without violating probabilities."—<i>Saturday Review.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + + +<p>The Riders; or, Through Forest and +Savannah with the "Red Cockades." By Ashmore +Russan and Fredk. Boyle. With Twenty-six Original +Illustrations by Alfred Pearse. In large crown 8vo, +cloth gilt, bevelled boards, price 5s.</p> + + +<p class="blockquot">"Most daring and attractive story of travel, peril, and adventure. The +book is of higher literary class than many of its rivals, and as a present +for a youth of mature age cannot well be beaten."—<i>Daily Telegraph.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + + +<p>Young Tom Bowling. A Story of the +Boys of the British Navy. By J.C. Hutcheson. Fully +Illustrated by J.B. Greene. In large crown 8vo, cloth +gilt, bevelled boards, price 5s.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"It is a spirited and adventurous tale about several brave boys of the +British Navy, who, besides getting through a multitude of monkey tricks +aboard a man-of-war, see some 'sarvice' in administering to the Arab +slave-traders that correction which these inhuman monsters so richly +deserve. The book has a number of excellent pictures."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + + +<p class="blockquot">"As a sea-yarn, with plenty of rollicking fun, exciting adventure, and +play of varied character, it should commend itself to all boy-readers. Mr. +Hutcheson has skilfully contrived to give as a background to the story a +very true and vivid and convincing description of the duties, occupations, +and routine work of the boys of the British Navy, and it is this element in +the book which gives it an importance beyond that of a mere story of +adventure."—<i>Daily Mail.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + + + +<p>The Boys of Fairmead. By M.C. +Rowsell. With Original Illustrations by Chris Hammond. +In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bev. boards, price 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"It is always a pleasure to take up a book by Miss Rowsell, whether she +writes for juveniles or adults, whether her pen be employed in history, +biography, or fiction, she invariably shows the cultured mind and the +polished diction of the writer, thinker and gentlewoman. This book has +adventure, and it has to a marked degree humour. Essentially a book for +boys, their elders will read it with pleasure."—<i>Public Opinion.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + + +<p>The Fortunes of Claude. By Edgar +Pickering. Illustrated by Lancelot Speed. In large +crown 8vo, cloth gilt, price 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">This volume narrates the adventures of Claude, a +nameless orphan, who finds not only his name, but +fortune and relations, whilst serving in the army of +"Bonnie Prince Charlie." He takes part in the battle of +Culloden, his escape therefrom and subsequent adventures +will be read with breathless interest by every boy who is +the fortunate possessor of this book. The illustrations +by Mr. Speed add much to the interest of the story.<br /> +<br /></p> + +<p>A Chase Round the World. By +Robert Overton. Illustrated by A. Monro. In large +crown 8vo, cloth gilt, price 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">The boy hero in this tale is occupied throughout in an +honourable endeavour to clear his father's name from the +shadow of suspicion which rests upon it, and to recover +a stolen treasure. How he succeeds in his quest, which +carries him round the world and leads to many strange +adventures we leave to the readers of the story to find +out. Suffice it to say that the plot is admirably worked +out, and there is not a dull page from cover to cover.<br /> +<br /></p> + + +<p>In Quest of Sheba's Treasure. A +Perilous Adventure by Sea and Land. By S. Walkey. +Illustrated by G. Hutchinson. In large crown 8vo, cloth +gilt, bevelled boards, price 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"A rousing book of adventure is 'In Quest of Sheba's Treasure,' by S. +Walkey, a tale of the days of Nelson (of whom, however, we get but a +glimpse) and of some bold Devon lads who went off to the Bedouin desert in +quest of the treasure of the Queen of Sheba, to which they had obtained a +clue. And after many perils and breathless escapes they find it."—<i>Glasgow +Herald.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + + +<p>Lost in African Jungles. By Frederick +Whishaw. With Four Original Illustrations by J.B. +Greene. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, +price 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"'Lost in African Jungles' transports us by the magic wand of Fred. +Whishaw to the other side of the world, where plenty of perils from men and +beasts abound. Apart from being an excellent entertainment in itself, the +book will serve to illustrate the difficulties encountered by British +Colonists in the conquest of Lobengula."—<i>Birmingham Gazette.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + +<p>The Fur Traders of the West; or, +Adventures among the Redskins. By E.R. Suffling. +With numerous Illustrations by Andriolli and Lancelot +Speed. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, +price 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"The perilous but successful career of the Cornish family who settled in +the wild Oregon country to trade for skins with the Indians is depicted +with unflagging spirit, and much varied information is skilfully mingled +with the incidents of the story."—<i>Manchester Guardian.</i><br /></p> + + +<p><i>Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London</i><br /></p> +<hr style="width: 75%;" /> +<h2>NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR +GIRLS.</h2> + +<p>Mona St. Claire. By Annie E. +Armstrong. With Six Illustrations by G.D. Hammond, +R. I. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, +price 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"One is always glad to welcome literature thoroughly pure in its tone, +and such as youth can read with enjoyment. This is happily the case with +the present volume, which contains within its dainty covers a wholesome +and withal a stirring story."—<i>Lloyd's News.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + + +<p>My Ladies Three. By Annie E. +Armstrong. With Six Illustrations by G.D. Hammond, +R.I. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, +price 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"This is a pretty gentle tale of a young girl's romance in the days which +we connect with memories of Queen Anne, of Johnson and Goldsmith, of +gold-laced waistcoats and three-cornered hats. The story is charming in +its detail, for its fresh dainty picturing of the old-fashioned country +life and of the ways and manners of the country gentlefolk of a by-gone +time."—<i>School Board Chronicle.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + +<p>My Friend Anne. By Jessie Armstrong. +With Six Illustrations by G.D. Hammond, R.I. +In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, price +3s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">A well-written tale of the days of Anne Boleyn, and +the court of Henry VIII., where for the most part the +scene is laid, is depicted with accuracy, and yet at the +same time with an interest which cannot fail to please the +most critical of readers.<br /></p> + + +<p><i>Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London</i><br /></p> +<hr style="width: 75%;" /> + +<h2>NEW ILLUSTRATED FAIRY TALES.</h2> + +<p class="center">In large crown 8vo, art linen, gilt top, or cloth gilt, +bevelled boards, price 3s. 6d. each.</p> + +<p>The One-Eyed Griffin, and other Fairy +Tales. A Series of Original Stories by Herbert E. +Inman. With numerous Illustrations by E.A. Mason.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"This book contains several stories in addition to 'The One-Eyed +Griffin,' which is the chief item among them. This narrative is that of +a little boy who enters into the realms of fabulous monsters, where he +encounters the giants Can't, Won't, and Don't Care, into whose terrible +clutches has fallen the lady of his heart. With the aid of the One-Eyed +Griffin he succeeds in overcoming them, and the story succeeds, in +allegorical fashion, to detail the difficulties which befall the +diminutive hero. The illustrations are singularly happy in their +delineation of the subject, and will win the affections of the youthful +circle for whose benefit the volume has been produced."—<i>Daily Telegraph.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + +<p>Icelandic Fairy Tales. By Mrs. A.W. +Hall. With Twenty-six Original Illustrations from +Drawings by E.A. Mason.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"A young reader could scarcely have a more promising introduction to +the literature of the Sagas. Sigurd and Frithjof and Ingeborg are not +indeed such imposing creatures as they are in the sterner tales; but they +are always people whom every child ought to know, and the giants are +giants of the proper sort."—<i>The Scotsman.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + +<p>The Owl King, and other Fairy Stories. +A Series of Original Tales by Herbert E. Inman. With +numerous Illustrations by E.A. Mason.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">"So great is the cry among the little people for a fresh story—one they +have not heard before—that it is a relief to be able with 'The Owl King' +to satisfy for awhile their seemingly insatiable appetite. 'The Owl King' +will soon, however, become established among the old-time favourites, for +a good story once told travels with wonderful swiftness."—<i>Family Circle.</i><br /> +<br /></p> + + +<p>Grimms' Fairy Tales and Household +Stories. Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull and Mr. L.A. +Wheatley. With numerous Original Illustrations and +Coloured Plates.</p> + +<p>Grimms' Goblins and Wonder Tales. +Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull and Mr. L.A. Wheatley. +With numerous Original Illustrations and Coloured +Plates.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">These two volumes of famous stories, collected by +the Brothers Grimm in the fertile and imaginative field +of their native land, have an ever-growing number of +readers, and are assured a hearty welcome from all who +delight in finding really high-class children's literature, +issued in a thoroughly attractive and up-to-date style.<br /> +<br /></p> + +<p>Andersen's Fairy Tales. Translated by +Mrs. H.B. Paull. With numerous Original Illustrations +and Coloured Plates.</p> + +<p>Andersen's Tales for the Young. +Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull. With numerous +Original Illustrations and Coloured Plates.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Amongst all the various editions of Andersen's popular +tales, none will be found to surpass these editions for +fidelity in translation, fulness of text, and excellence of +get-up. The tales are world-wide favourites, known to nursery-land +of all nations.<br /> +<br /></p> + + +<p>Prince Ubbely Bubble's Fairy Tales, +and Glimpses from Elf-Land. By J. Templeton Lucas. +With numerous Illustrations by Barnard, Phiz, Ellen +Edwards, &c.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">The favourite themes of childhood are here, in a +series of fascinating stories, of which the first is "The +Perseverance of Prince Ubbely Bubble," and amongst numerous +other tales are told those of "The Six Goblin Eggs," "Tom +and the Ogre," "The Adventures of John, the Son of Jack the +Giant Killer," etc.<br /> +<br /></p> + +<p>The Old, Old Fairy Tales. Edited +by Mrs. Valentine. With numerous Original Illustrations +and Coloured Plates.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">The well-known favourites, "Puss in Boots," "The +White Cat," "Tom Thumb," and others, are comprised +in this collection, which embraces, as its name implies, +all the oft-told tales.<br /> +<br /></p> + +<p>Holme Lee's Fairy Tales. The Story +of Tuflongbo. With numerous Original Illustrations.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Is a narrative of the wonderful life and adventures of +Tuflongbo. When he grows up, he goes on a great +journey, falls into the hands of giants, amongst whom his +escapes are recorded, until he finally puts off his shoes +and vanishes into shadowland.</p> + +<p><i>Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 75%;" /> +<p>Transcriber's Notes:</p> +<ul> +<li>Obvious punctuation errors repaired. </li> +<li>Variations in hyphenation have been retained.</li> +<li>Page 46 "mame" changed to "name" ("his name honoured and respected")</li> +</ul> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Torn Bible, by Alice Somerton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORN BIBLE *** + +***** This file should be named 35199-h.htm or 35199-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/1/9/35199/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Griff Evans, Lindy Walsh and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Torn Bible + Or Hubert's Best Friend + +Author: Alice Somerton + +Release Date: February 7, 2011 [EBook #35199] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORN BIBLE *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Griff Evans, Lindy Walsh and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE + TORN BIBLE + OR + _HUBERT'S BEST FRIEND_ + + BY + ALICE SOMERTON + AUTHOR OF "LAYTON CROFT" ETC. + + + LONDON + FREDERICK WARNE AND CO. + AND NEW YORK + + + + + TO GLANVILLE + AND + HIS EIGHT SCHOOLFELLOWS. + + +Perhaps, dear boys, you wonder why I should have dedicated this little +book to you: it is that you may feel a deeper interest in it, and +imbibe, from reading it, an earnest love and reverence for your Bible, +which, like a good angel, can guide you safely through the world as +long as you live. Like Hubert's mother, I ask you to read a portion +every day; and, whatever be the battle of life you may have to fight, +may God's blessing attend you, making you humble towards Him, dutiful +to your parents, and a blessing to mankind. + + + Believe me, + Yours affectionately, + ALICE SOMERTON. + + + + + THE TORN BIBLE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HUBERT'S DEPARTURE FROM HOME. + + May thy goodness + Share with thy birthright! * * * * + * * * What heaven more will + That these may furnish and my prayers pluck down, + Fall on thy head! Farewell.--SHAKESPEARE. + + +The rural and picturesque village of Hulney, in the north of England, +is a charming place; it is almost surrounded with well-wooded hills, +and the little rivulets, which ever murmur down their sides, run into +the limpid stream along the banks of which most of the cottages are +built. + +At the north end of the village, on the slope of a hill, is the church, +so thickly covered with ivy that the only portions of the stonework +visible are part of the ancient tower and the chancel window. + +Legend and historic fact hang their mantle round this old church. +History tells us that the brave, yet often cruel, Margaret, wife of +Henry VI., fled there after a defeat in one of her battles; and it is +also recorded that one hundred of the heroes of Flodden Field rested +there on their return from the victory. Modern times have added to the +interest which clings to this old place, and one thing especially which +draws attention will form the subject of this story. + +In that old churchyard, where the children of many generations lie side +by side, there is many a touching or interesting record; but the +stranger ever lingers the longest near seven white grave-stones, all +bearing the name of Goodwin. Upon the one which has the most recent +date is the following inscription:--"Sacred to the Memory of Hubert +Goodwin, aged seventy years;" and below this a book, partly destroyed, +with several of the loose leaves, is carved upon the stone: and though, +perhaps, this description of it may not be striking, the exquisite +carving of that destroyed book is such that people ask its meaning, and +they are told that it is a "torn Bible." + +Hubert Goodwin, the tenant of that grave, was the eldest of six +children, blessed with pious and affectionate parents, well to do in +the world, and descended from a family of some distinction. + +Great pains were bestowed upon Hubert's education, as he grew up to +youth; but from his birth he was of such a passionate turn, and at +times so ungovernable, that he was the source of all the sorrow that +for many years fell to the lot of his parents: he was different to their +other children, and many a time when reproof had been necessary, and the +little wayward one, after a troubled day, had retired to rest, his +mother's heart, still heavy, led her softly to the bed where he lay +sleeping, and there, kneeling down, she would commend him again, with +perhaps a deeper earnestness, to that One who knew all her trouble, and +whom she knew could alone help her. Once the boy awoke as his mother +knelt beside him, and, as though in answer to her prayer that his heart +might be changed, he burst into tears, and, throwing his arms round her +neck, expressed deep sorrow at having grieved her, and promised to try +and do better. Poor mother! her joy was brief; in a very short time he +was as undutiful and rebellious as ever, and so he continued until he +reached the age of twelve years, when, as he had determined upon being +a soldier, his parents, much against their wish, sent him to a military +school, to be educated for the army. + +A year rolled away, and all the accounts that came from the master of +Hubert's school informed his parents that he was a bold, unruly boy--a +great deal of trouble to his teachers--but he would probably tame down +a little in time, and do very well for the profession he had chosen. +Many and many a time these parents wept over the letters which spoke +thus of their son: they wished him to be a good soldier--one fearing +and serving God--and they oftentimes repeated their tale of sorrow to +their good pastor, in whom they were wont to confide; but his meed of +comfort was ever the same. What other could he offer? Good man, he +knelt with them, directed them to the source of true comfort, the Lord +Jesus Christ, and tried to lighten their hearts' burden by drawing them +nearer to the hand that afflicted them. + +When Hubert had been three years at school, he obtained, through the +influence of friends, a cadetship in one of the regiments belonging to +the East India Company; he was still only a boy, and his parents had +rather he had not gone entirely away from them so soon, for they felt, +and with some truth, that while he was at school he was at least under +their protection, if not their guidance. Hubert, however, came home to +them a fine noble-looking youth, delighted at the prospect before him, +and as proud and vain as possible at being at last really a soldier. How +much his parents loved him, and how they tried to persuade themselves +that the vivacity and recklessness he showed arose more from the +hilarity of a heart buoyant with youthful spirits, than from an evil +nature! but when, on the first Sabbath after his return home, he scoffed +at the manner in which they observed that holy day, another arrow +pierced their bosoms, another bitter drop fell into their cup of sorrow. + +During the three years Hubert had been at school, his parents had +gradually observed that, though he did perhaps attend to most of their +wishes, there was a careless sort of indifference about him; and though +they were always glad to see him in his vacations, they were as glad to +see him go back to school, because their home was more peaceful, and +every one was happier when he was not there. Think of this, boys, +whoever you may be, that are reading this story, and when you spend a +short time with those kind parents who love you so much, let them see, +by your kindness and willing obedience, that you wish to love them as +much as they love you; and never let them have to say that their home is +happier when you are not there: no, rather let them rejoice at your +coming home, welcome you, and think of you as the bright light that +cheers every one in their dwelling; and if they can do that, be assured +that God will bless you. + +Only a fortnight's leave of absence had been granted to Hubert, and one +week had gone. The way in which he had spoken of sacred things, and of +the manner in which they had observed the Sabbath, roused his mother; +and though her reproof was gentle, she was earnest, and tried all she +could to influence him to better thoughts. She told him of the many +snares and dangers he would have to encounter, and the many temptations +that ever lurk along the path of youth; of the strange country to which +he was going; and of the doubly incurred danger of going forth in his +own strength. He listened as she talked to him; but along that way which +she so dreaded, all his hope and young imagination were centred, and he +grew restless and impatient to be gone. + +They were busy in Hubert's home; brothers and sisters all helped to +forward the things necessary for their eldest brother's future comfort, +and they sat later than usual round the fire the last night of his stay +with them; for everything was ready, and the mail-coach would take him +from them early on the morrow. The ship which was to convey Hubert to +India was to sail from Portsmouth, and as his father was in ill-health, +there was some concern in the family circle about his having to take the +journey alone; he promised, however, to write immediately he reached the +vessel, and so, with many a kiss and many a prayer, the family separated +for the night. + +It was a lovely autumn morning in the year 1792; everything round +Hubert's home looked beautiful, and his brothers and sisters, as they +clustered around him, and gave him their last kisses, each extorted a +promise that he would write a long letter to them very soon. Excitement +had driven off every regret at parting with him, and one young brother +ran off long before the time, to keep watch at the gate for the coach +coming. + +The time for Hubert to go drew near, and his father, infirm from recent +sickness, took his hand as he bade him farewell, and laying the other +upon his head, reminded him once more of lessons long ago taught, and +long ago forgotten; gave him again good counsel concerning his future +life; then pressed him earnestly to his heart, and prayed God to keep +him. Then came his mother; she had already poured out the deep sorrow +she felt at his leaving her, and had endeavoured to school herself to +the parting; without a word she threw her arms round his neck, and bent +her head for some minutes over him. "Oh, Hubert," she at length said, +"when sickness or trouble comes upon you, you will be far from home, and +there will be none of us, who love you so dearly, near to comfort you, +and no one to try and guide you right; but see here, I have a Bible; +take it, treasure it as my last gift, and promise me that you will read +it every day. I care not how little you read, but promise that you will +read some: you will never regret it, and may it teach you the way to +heaven." + +"I _will_ read it, mother; I wish I were as good as you are; I know I am +not like the others. Mother dear, don't cry; I will try and do as you +wish; good-bye!" and after kissing her affectionately he hurried from +the house. + +The coach was at the gate, round which the children gathered, and for a +few minutes every one seemed busy. The servant-man was there with +Hubert's trunk and a small leather bag; the nurse had come round from +the back garden with the baby; cook followed, and stood a little way +behind the gate with her arms half wrapped up in her apron; and the +housemaid stood at one of the open bed-room windows; while on the steps +of the door were his parents, joining in the farewell to the first-born. +Pilot, the house-dog, seemed to have some notion of the passing event, +for he had come to the gate too, and did not, as was his usual custom, +race and gambol with the children, but sat down amongst them all, +apparently in a thoughtful mood. Hubert kissed his brothers and sisters, +and then took his seat amongst the passengers; then came many a +good-bye, and waving of handkerchiefs, and the coach rolled away. + +"He's gone," said his father, as the coach wended its way round the +hill. "Never mind, Mary; it was not for this we trained him, but we've +done our duty, I hope, in letting him go, for he was determined, and +would perhaps soon have taken his own way; poor lad! Perhaps amongst +strangers he will do better than with us; but I would sooner have buried +him--sooner, by far, have laid him in the churchyard--than he should +have taken this course. What is the use of trying to make children good? +Tears, prayers, self-denials, what is the use of them all, if the result +is like this?" So he murmured, and then bowed his head and wept, and his +wife, instead of receiving comfort from him, became the comforter; for, +putting her arm round his neck, she replied, + +"Oh, yes, dear, our prayers and tears have brought us many blessings; +see the other children, how good they are; don't murmur. God may yet +bless us in Hubert; it is terrible to part with him in this way; but it +may yet be a blessing to us all: God knows." Then she sat down and wept +with her husband over this first great sorrow; and they _did_ weep; they +and God alone knew the depth of the woe that had come upon them; the +first-born pride of their home and hearts going from them, perhaps for +ever, without one religious impression, or care for the future, was a +sorrow that none around could lighten, and they knelt down and prayed +fervently for that reckless son, and tried to feel a deeper trust in Him +who, though depriving them of one blessing, gave them many. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +TOO LATE FOR THE POST-BAG. + + Be wise to-day; 'tis madness to defer; + Next day the fatal precedent will plead; + Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out of life. + YOUNG. + + +Meantime, Hubert went on his way, and a feeling of sadness came over him +after he lost sight of his home amongst the trees; for the thought had +come into his mind that perhaps he might never see it again. For a +moment his heart beat quickly, and he gave a deep sigh; then, putting +his hand into the leather bag, he was just going to take out his +mother's present to him, when a man, who sat opposite, said, "I suppose, +young soldier, you are off to join your regiment?" + +"Yes," replied Hubert, with a smile; and as he drew his hand from the +bag, he continued, "we are ordered to the East Indies." + +"East Indies, eh? you'll soon see a little life, then; they tell me +there's plenty of fighting going on out yonder, though we don't get +much of it in the newspaper. But you are very young?" + +"Yes, I'm the youngest cadet in the regiment; I'm just turned fifteen; +but I shall be as brave as any of the others, I dare say: and I mean to +make as good a soldier." + +"No doubt of it," replied more than one of the passengers, and the +coachman, who had heard the conversation, cracked his whip, as he chimed +in, "Hear! hear! well done!" Then, as the coach rolled along over many a +mile, they talked of nothing but Hubert and the sphere of his future +existence. It feasted the boy's pride; and every other thought fled +away, and he forgot all about his home and his Bible. + +It was the morning of the third day since Hubert started, when, after +many changes and delays, the journey was almost ended, and in less than +an hour they would be in London. + +"Do you go to your ship at once?" inquired a gentleman who was seated +beside the coachman, and who had not only come all the journey with +Hubert, but who appeared particularly interested in him. + +"I should like to go very much," replied the boy, "because I know no one +in London, though my leave of absence is not up till to-morrow." + +"My brother is captain of your vessel," said the stranger; "so, if you +like, we can go together, for I am on the way to say good-bye to him." + +Nothing could have suited Hubert better; so, upon leaving the coach, +which reached London as the clocks were striking five, they hurried off +to the street where the mail started for Portsmouth, and after +travelling all day they reached the vessel. How happy was Hubert that +night! what a joyous glow was on his cheek! Several of his old +companions were there, and not one of them appeared to have any sorrow +at leaving friends and home; they greeted each other with light hearts +and buoyant spirits, talked of the varied enjoyments of the past +holiday, and laughed loud and long, as they sat together in the +mess-room. + +Here and there, apart from the young ones, in nook and corner, or +leaning over the side of the vessel, an older head resting upon the +hand, told that with some, at least, the pang of parting from home and +dear ones had left its impress upon the heart of the soldier; and there +was one young lad, a stranger, only one month older than Hubert, seated +upon a coil of rope, weeping as though his heart would break. The little +cabin-boy, a child of eleven, tried to soothe him, but the sailors, as +they passed by, said, "Let him alone, boy, and he'll join his messmates +below all the sooner." + +Night closed at last, and for a few hours, at least, there was silence: +sleep may not have visited every pillow, but the loud laugh was hushed, +and the stillness of night rested upon the vessel. + +It was late the next morning when Hubert left his cabin; all was noise +and confusion; hundreds of soldiers were moving about, and Hubert, to +escape from the turmoil, was preparing to go ashore when a superior +officer touched him on the shoulder and desired him to remain in the +vessel. Hubert was vexed at the order, and sat down gloomily upon a +seat; the time, however, passed quickly by, and at noon, when the bugle +sounded to summon all visitors on deck, that they might be sent on +shore, he had forgotten his anger, and was one of the most cheerful +there. + +The friends were gone, all the partings were over, the gangways were +secured, and everything was ready. Wind and tide in favour, time was +precious, and the roll was called: every soldier, to a man, answered to +his name, and they gave three hearty cheers for King George, their +regiment, and Old England. + +"The ship will weigh anchor in less than an hour," said a voice close to +Hubert's ear, and, turning round, he saw the gentleman who had +accompanied him from his home. + +"Oh, how do you do?" said Hubert, shaking hands with him. "Do you sail +with us?" + +"No, only just a mile or so, then I shall return in a boat. Have you a +letter to your parents? if so, I shall be happy to post it for you." + +Hubert's face turned red: he had forgotten to write, and he replied, "I +have not a letter." + +"Perhaps you have already sent one?" + +"Yes," said Hubert; "I mean no; I have not written; the ship sails so +soon, and I have been so engaged that I forgot." + +"Forgot?" said the stranger, retaining his hand. "What! forget to write +to those parents you may never see again? Come, my lad, that looks ill +in a soldier; take a friend's advice, and write a letter at once; if I +cannot take it, you will have an opportunity of sending it before many +days pass, and your parents must be anxious about you: try and remember +all the good counsels they gave you before you left, and never forget +them. Good-bye; remember what I say; good-bye." + +There was much warmth in the stranger's manner as he shook Hubert's +hand, into whose young heart every good resolution returned, and he +hastened to the cabin which he was to share with three other cadets. He +was silent and thoughtful as he unpacked his chest to find his writing +materials, and there the previous evening he had placed his Bible. As he +raised the lid, his eye fell upon his mother's last gift, and more +earnestly than before he determined upon writing a long letter. The +paper was found, and the writing-desk, which a dear little sister had +given him, was opened, when in rushed the three noisy companions of his +cabin, and made so much disturbance that he found it impossible to +write; so, thinking that he should have plenty of time "to-morrow," he +put his things back again into his chest, and became as noisy as the +others. Another opportunity was lost, another good resolution broken, +for the society of noisy and riotous companions; and it may be that the +many evils and sorrows of his after-life were but the fruits of his +neglecting this first great duty. Had he remembered his parents and +their counsels, and cherished the little germ of goodness that was +springing up in his heart, heavenly dews might have descended upon the +flower, and kept him from the ways of evil. + +The vessel at last set sail, and order was restored. Hubert was upon +deck, and as he looked over the side of the ship, and saw the white +cliffs of his country fading from his view, he for once felt +lonely--felt he was leaving all he loved, and he wished he had written +home. + +"Just a line: I might do it now," he said to himself. He found, however, +upon turning to go below, that he would be required to perform one of +his military duties almost immediately, so that he could not write then; +and he felt such a mixture of sorrow and vexation, that the feelings of +the boy mocked, as it were, the dress he wore; and, leaning his head +over the side of the ship, more than one large tear mingled with the +waters of the deep. + +Their first night at sea came on: how calm and beautiful it was! there +was scarcely a ripple upon the ocean; the bright stars in the high vault +of heaven looked down like so many gentle friends upon the eyes that +gazed up at them, and the pale moonbeams lighted up the pathway for +those wanderers on the waters. Hubert was not happy; many, many times he +fancied he could hear his mother speaking to him, and he would have +given much if he had only written to her. It was then he again +remembered his Bible, and the promise to read it, which promise he now +determined to perform, and as soon as he could conveniently go to his +cabin, he did so, opened his chest, and took out the book, intending to +read. + +"How small it is," he thought, "and how pretty!" Then he turned over +leaf by leaf; he knew not where to begin: he could remember nothing at +all about it, and it ended in his putting it back in his chest and going +to his bed. Sleep soon silenced every thought, no letter was written +home, not a word of the Bible was read, promise and resolutions had +passed away with his sorrow, and Hubert little thought, as he silenced +the monitor within, how hard it would be to return to the duty he was +neglecting. + +The ship had now been a fortnight at sea; it had passed through the Bay +of Biscay, and was off the coast of Portugal, when the soldiers were +informed that in about an hour a vessel would pass very near to them; +and, as the sea was calm, a boat would leave in forty minutes to carry +letters for England to the passing ship. + +"Forty minutes," said Hubert aloud, and apparently pleased, for he +hurried off, as many more did, to avail themselves of the opportunity of +writing home. Forty minutes, however, was too long a time for Hubert, +and he returned again to the deck, to seek a companion and inquire what +he intended to do, before he sat down to write himself. Thoughts of +neglected duty and unkindness to his parents had frequently disturbed +Hubert's mind; try as he would to sweep every remembrance of his +disobedience away, the thought would come that he had not done right; +but, instead of sorrowing and making an effort to repair the ill he had +done, he tried to persuade himself that he was cowardly in giving way to +his feelings; so he endeavoured to smother the rising affection that +stole upon him during the first few days he was upon the sea, and the +result was that he became more reckless than ever. + +"Letters ready?" all at once startled Hubert, as he stood talking to his +companion upon the deck: there was the man with the bag collecting them, +and his was not written. The bag was sealed, the boat was pushed off, +the last chance, probably for months, was gone, and, as he began to hum +a tune, he walked away to the other end of the ship. He looked over the +side, and a momentary feeling of vexation came over him as he saw the +little boat carrying its treasure, its bag of home letters; but he was +learning now to defy his conscience, and sang louder the snatch of song +that rushed to his aid, and seemed to be all he wanted to throw back the +better feelings of his heart. + +Many weeks had passed since that noble vessel left England; its white +sails were still spread in the breeze, and it was wafted on over the +sea. Hubert had tried very hard to forget all about his home; the +recollections of it were not pleasant, they were too accusing for him to +indulge in; there was a holiness about it which ill-accorded with the +life he was leading, and the effort he continually made to suppress +every thought of it frequently caused him to fall deeper into sin. + +One night, when in the height of glee in the mess-room, when songs were +being sung, and the giddy laugh rang out upon the silent waters, and +Hubert was joining fully in the mirth of his comrades, he suddenly +remembered that he had in his chest a book of sea-songs, and hastened +away to get it. He knew pretty well where to put his hand upon it; so, +when he reached his cabin, he never thought of lighting his little lamp, +but knelt down beside his chest in the dark. It was scarcely the work of +a minute; his chest was re-locked, and he skipped away back to the +mess-room; his hand was upon the door, when all at once his eye fell +upon the book he had brought; it was not the one he had intended to +bring--it was not the song-book, but the Bible. He started when he saw +what he had; and how was it that a sudden chill sped like lightning +over him? How was it that on that sultry night he felt so cold? His hand +trembled, his heart beat quickly, but the tempter was by his side, and +he gave utterance to many an evil thought as he turned back to change +that unwelcome treasure. + +The Bible was exchanged for the song-book, and Hubert was again with his +comrades, where he became more riotous than before, and was nearly the +last to retire to rest. + +There was silence once more in the ship, for it was midnight, and all +except the few who kept the night-watch were sleeping. Hubert had +perhaps fallen asleep as soon as any of his companions, but his rest was +short, for he started up in alarm. He tried to remember what it was that +had disturbed him, but could not. He looked around to see if either of +his comrades were moving, but their deep, heavy breathing told him they +slept; and then he lay down again in his own berth. There, in that still +hour, as he listened to the soft wind passing through the rigging, and +the slow measured tread of the sentinels on deck, he all at once thought +of his English home, thought of his broken faith with his mother, +thought of his Bible. + +"It is no use," he said aloud, "I cannot alter it now; how I wish I had +but just written home! fool that I was not to do so; and that book, how +I wish she had never given it to me; it will make me a coward: in fact +it does; I never go to my chest, but there it is; I'll burn it--I'll +throw it away; how I wish I had never had it!" and he struck the side of +his berth with his clenched fist as he spoke. + +There was no voice in that little cabin to answer or direct Hubert in +his outburst of passionate feeling; and, as he looked around at his +sleeping comrades, he crept softly from his berth, and went and knelt +down by his chest. The moon shone brightly through the tiny cabin +window, and as he knelt by his chest he could see very well everything +around him. He took out his Bible, and gazed wildly at it for a moment, +scarce knowing what next to do; then rising as if a sudden thought had +struck him, he tried to open the window that he might throw it into the +sea: it was, however, too secure to open at his will, and, turning away +after a fruitless effort, he sought a place to hide it. "Where shall I +hide it?" he said, as he walked round and round his cabin; there was no +nook or corner into which he could thrust it so that it should never +meet his eye again. What could he do with it? He must wait for another +opportunity; so, taking out nearly everything in his chest, he thrust it +down into the farthest corner, heaped all his things upon it, made them +secure, and then returned to his bed. The excitement of the moment was +over, yet Hubert could not rest, and, as he turned himself upon his +uneasy bed, he never once regretted the wicked thought that had led him +to try and throw away his Bible; but the determination to dispose of it +grew stronger. + +Some weeks after this little event, the regiment arrived in India, and +was ordered far up the country: the long, toilsome march which Hubert +now had to undergo, initiated him into some of the realities of a +soldier's life, and it was not long before he found that the career he +had chosen was not so full of enjoyment as he had anticipated. He very +often felt weary; the heat of the country depressed his spirits; and he +often sighed deeply as he remembered the pleasant hills and valleys of +his own land. The regiment had no sooner located itself in the new +station, than Hubert and many others were struck down with fever. Death +was busy amongst them, but the young prodigal was spared. Many a time he +had wished to die; sick and amongst strangers, his mother's words had +come home to him with double power, and he felt the bitter truth that +there was indeed none who loved him, none to comfort him; it was a +wonder he lived, for the fever was malignant, and the care bestowed upon +the sick very little indeed. Poor Hubert! how was it he could not die? +Young as he was, this illness taught him the sad lesson that where there +is no love or interest there is an inhumanity in man; and as he grew +better his heart became more hardened, for he began to cherish a hatred +towards every one around him. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE BIBLE TORN. + + Within this awful volume lies + The mystery of mysteries; + And better he had ne'er been born + Who reads to doubt or reads to scorn.--SCOTT. + + +We must pass over a few years. Hubert had overcome the effects of the +climate, and the many dangers to which he had been exposed, helped, as +they ever will, the heart, uninfluenced by religion, to make him more +reckless and daring. Away from his sight, at the bottom of his chest, +undisturbed, lay his Bible; beside it, too, lay his sister's desk, and +the writing materials his mother had carefully packed for him: he seldom +thought of the fond ones who had given him those things; but far away in +England they ever thought of him, and watched and wept for a letter. + +Hubert's regiment had seen a great deal of service, and it had not been +his lot to escape the dangers of war. On one occasion he had been +overcome and taken prisoner by some natives, and was only saved from +being put to death in a cruel manner by an unexpected attack being made +upon these Hindoos by a neighbouring chief, to repulse which they left +Hubert and two of his companions in the care of some women, from whom +they were rescued by a company of his regiment who had come out to +search for him. In a few hours the attempt to save Hubert would have +been in vain, for the Hindoos, hating the English, seldom allowed much +time to elapse between the capture and the sacrifice. Many a narrow +escape besides this, and many a wound--some slight and some +severe--dotted the pathway of Hubert's life; and the seventh year of his +residence in India was drawing to a close. The hot season had been +unusually oppressive; nearly every disease which flesh is heir to had +made fearful ravages amongst the soldiers, and Hubert was a second time +struck down with fever. Mercy once again interposed, and, like the +barren fig-tree, he was spared, that another opportunity might be given +him to bear fruit. One morning, when he was getting better, the hospital +nurse came to him with a letter in her hand, and asked if he thought it +was for him; he took it from her, and for a few moments did not answer +her: his heart smote him; but though his illness had slightly subdued +him, he was old in sin, and had learnt how to overcome all feelings of +tenderness; so, striving to check the thoughts that were forcing their +way, he began to examine the postmarks and various written notices upon +the outside of the letter; he soon found how far it had travelled in +search of him, and now it was by a mere chance that he had received it. + +"Why was this letter not sent after me?" inquired Hubert. + +"Be thankful, sir, that you have received it now," said the nurse. "It +has travelled after you a great way; but your regiment has been so much +on the move that I am not surprised at its being delayed. I have seen it +on the letter-rack more than eight months, and several others with it, +and you would not have had it now if I had not remembered you." + +"Why, where did you see me before?" + +"I nursed poor Captain White in the hospital at Jansi, and I knew you by +your coming so often to see him." + +"I did not remember you." + +"No, sir, perhaps not; but I did you, though it was only this morning +that I remembered anything about the letter, and that is how it is they +often get delayed: they are given to people very often, to send on, who +know nothing at all about them, and so they get put on one side, and +sometimes forgotten altogether. I suppose that was sent here because +someone knew that when you were stationed here a year ago, you were in +hospital with jaundice, and here it has been ever since." + +"It is high time things were altered, then," replied Hubert, "if this is +how the letters are treated." + +"Yes, sir, it is," said the nurse; "but you don't seem very anxious to +read your letter, now you have it." + +Hubert said no more. Anxious indeed he was to know what that letter +contained, but fearful to open it; the battle, everything indeed in +warfare he could face with boldness, but before that silent, soiled, +fairy-like packet in his hand his whole nature quailed. Had he been +alone, perhaps he would not have opened it at all; but the eye of +another was upon him, and perhaps it was to save betrayal that he broke +the seal. It was from his father; there was nothing reproachful in it, +but a great deal of news about the family and their affectionate +remembrance of him; a long account of letters written, and their fears +that they had not reached him; then an earnest pleading that if he +received that he would write to them immediately, for their anxiety and +disappointment were very great. + +Hubert read his letter several times; it was not the first he had +received, though perhaps it was the first that he really felt anxious to +answer; but he was too much out of health to reply to it then. It was +frequently a silent companion to him during the remainder of his stay in +the hospital, though when he grew better and returned again to his old +companions, somehow his father's letter was forgotten. + +Hubert's illness had no effect upon him for good; it was sent, no doubt +in mercy, to check, at least for a time, the career he was running; but +health had returned, and so had he to his evil habits. Not one thought +did he ever willingly give to his parents, or the good precepts they had +tried to teach him; but when at times a few lines of a hymn, or a few +words of an early learnt prayer, would, in spite of all his efforts, +come across his mind, he had become so bold in sin that he cursed the +intruding memory of his purer days. + +How little that young soldier thought of the merciful providence that +was watching over him! And it was doubtless in answer to his parents' +prayers that the little snatches of his early lessons were allowed to +intrude so repeatedly upon him, to bring him back, if possible, to a +better life. Take courage, mothers, even though the seed now sown seems +to perish as it falls; and continue to store up in the little mind +passages of holy writ, the simple prayer, and the childish hymn; long, +long may the soil remain barren, but a distant storm-cloud may shed its +torrents there, and then the fruit of thy labours may return like the +autumn grain, and ye shall reap, if ye faint not. + +Hubert had grown very handsome, military fortune had smiled upon him, +and he had risen to be first lieutenant of his regiment Good abilities, +and great intelligence, with his merry, cheerful disposition, had won +him many favours; but those qualities were at the same time the snares +in his path: they were misapplied and misdirected, and too often were +the cause of his deepest errors. + +One night, about nine years after Hubert had left England, he sat alone +in his room, with a heavier heart than he had ever before endured. His +sword lay upon the floor, part of his soldier's dress was thrown +carelessly upon a chair, a glass jug of water and a bottle were upon the +table, a loose grey cloak was wrapped around him, and his arm was in a +sling; he had been in battle that day, and severely cut upon the +shoulder; the doctor had attended to him and bound up the wound, and +Hubert, sick and dispirited, lounged in his easy chair in gloomy +silence. The doctor had tried to persuade him to go to bed, and Hubert +had promised to do so; but as soon as he was gone, the servant man was +dismissed from the room, and Hubert began to think. They must have been +terrible thoughts that could have produced such a look of despair; they +were not, however, about his wounded shoulder, nor the dangers he had +that day encountered; neither were they of his parents, to whom, in a +few months, the news of the battle would probably find its way. It was +altogether another matter which troubled him. + +A companion, a fellow officer--the little lad who seated himself upon +the coil of rope and wept such tears as the vessel left England--had +grown up to manhood with Hubert, and had that morning gone out with him +to battle; they were full of spirit when they went, and for some time +fought nearly side by side; but there came unexpectedly a terrible +volley of shot from a portion of the enemy that lay concealed behind +some dense brushwood. Hubert's ranks were thinned, and, as he turned +round to rally and command his men, he missed his friend. It was a +critical moment; every energy and thought was required for the fight; so +that a glance behind, and a fleeting pang lest he had fallen, were all +that circumstances allowed, and Hubert rushed on. + +The battle was won, the soldiers were returning, and Hubert was wounded; +he had made inquiry for his friend, but could hear nothing. As they +wound their way along, however, by the hill-side where the volley had +been fired, his heart beat quickly, for his own wound had made him feel +weak, and he could scarcely speak, when he saw two soldiers bending over +something lying on the grass. All his fears were realized as he slowly +came up to the scene; for there, stretched upon the ground, lay his +companion, dead. Oh! how the sight overcame him. If man is capable of +loving man, it was exemplified in Hubert; for his heart had deeply +entwined itself round his hapless comrade, and his first impulse was to +kneel beside him, and with his unwounded arm press him to his bosom as +he wept over his pallid brow. No thought, however, of the mercy which +had kept him from a similar fate came into his mind; no prayer of +thankfulness went up from his heart; but sorrowful and ill, he left his +friend, and leaning between the two soldiers, he at last, after great +difficulty, reached his quarters. After Hubert had been attended to by +the doctor, a second thought took the place of the first pure one; and, +as he sat alone, instead of pouring out his heart in deep gratitude to +his Almighty Preserver, he became irritated and angry, and amongst the +many thoughts that crowded upon him he remembered that his poor dead +companion was deeply in his debt. Much of their time had been spent +together at the gaming-table, and only a few evenings before, Hubert had +lent his companion all the money he had by him, including his last +month's pay; since then, Hubert had gambled, and been unsuccessful, and +had become involved for a considerable amount, which he had promised to +pay in a week; but his companion, who owed him sufficient to pay the +debt, was killed, and the difficulty into which he was suddenly plunged +drove him almost to despair. + +"What shall I do?" he said, as he passionately struck the table; and +then, in the height of his frenzy, he said many bitter, cruel things +about his poor guilty companion who lay dead upon his bed in the +adjoining room. + +"Oh, what shall I do?" he said again; and for some minutes he sat still, +gazing with a vacant stare upon the floor; then, as if moved by a sudden +impulse, he slowly rose from his chair, and, going into his bed-room, he +knelt down by his chest, intending to get some writing paper, that he +might reckon up all he owed, and see how far his own resources would +help him. Perhaps he was too absorbed to think of what he was doing, for +he took out a small parcel, and then, after replacing the things in his +chest, he went and sat down by the table. For some minutes he sat with +his face covered with his hands, as though he were in deep thought; +then he muttered something, and, snatching up the parcel, he broke the +string that tied it; one sharp pull drew the paper away, when out upon +the table fell his Bible. "Fool, to bring that!" he said, and then he +dashed it to the other end of the room. In striking the Bible it came +open, and as it came in contact with the corner of a chair two of its +leaves were torn out. There was a slight momentary regret in Hubert's +heart, when he found what he had done: he hated the book, and could not +bear it in his sight; and though he would have been glad to have been +rid of it, he never thought, nor perhaps ever intended destroying it in +that way, and he stepped across the room to gather it all up. Much of +his passion subsided as he sat down and tried to replace the torn +leaves. The days, however, had long since passed when he was accustomed +to read his Bible; he was now not only unfamiliar with that sacred book, +but all that he once knew appeared to have gone from his memory; and +though he turned over and over again one portion after another, to find +the part in Ezekiel from which the pages had been torn, it was of no +use, he could not replace them; so, with a nervous hand, he thrust them +into his pocket, and took the torn Bible back to his chest. + +This little incident, though it produced no reflection, subdued for a +time the excitement under which he was labouring; and though he +disregarded the unseen hand that was dealing so mysteriously with him, +the first outburst of bad feeling respecting the difficulty into which +he had fallen by the death of his gambling companion was over, and, +leaving his room, he walked with gentle step to the one in which his +dead comrade lay. The years of folly and sin which Hubert had passed had +not quite dried up all the fountains of his heart; one of them, at +least, was flowing afresh as he closed the door and went up to the +remains of his dead friend. He raised the sheet which had been spread +over the corpse, and breathed the words, "Oh, poor Harris!" as he gazed +upon the once joyous face; then, sitting down beside him, he laid his +hand upon the cold forehead and wept as he had not done since his +childhood. He had seen death in many forms, and this was not the first +time he had lost a companion; but neither tear nor sigh had followed the +death of any one before: but for poor Harris, how he wept! Hubert had +loved him well. Death, which before had no effect upon him, overwhelmed +him now, and it was not until his own wounded arm grew very painful, +from the effects of touching the cold dead, that he rose to go away. +Harris was to be buried early on the morrow, and Hubert felt such a +strange bitterness at parting that he could scarcely go; but at last, +bending over him, he pressed one long, fervent kiss upon the silent lips +and turned away. + +In passing along near the door, his eye caught what he thought to be a +piece of folded paper lying near the clothes of his friend; he picked it +up, and, upon opening it, found it to be a note from poor Harris--a few +lines written by him in pencil, as he lay dying upon the field of +battle; and there was not much upon the paper, but there was enough. +Poor Harris, in that brief note, begged the finder to convey the sad +story of his death to his mother, and tell her how bitterly he repented +having so long forgotten her; that he begged her to forgive him, and +earnestly implored the Lord Jesus to have mercy upon him; then came the +words--evidently written by a trembling hand--"Comrade, turn and repent; +not a moment may be given to you; tell Hubert Goodwin I am dead: he must +meet me again." + +Hubert had never felt before what he did as he read that note--written +as the life-blood wasted, and he the subject of it; how he trembled, +bold, daring soldier that he was! it was the voice from the dead; and at +first he felt cold--so cold: his teeth chattered, and then a sudden heat +rushed over him, and the perspiration trickled down his face; his bosom +swelled, his breath grew short; at length, a long, deep groan burst from +his overcharged heart, and he went to his own room. Long, very long, +silent and alone, Hubert sat in his dreary chamber; there were but few +sounds without, and nothing but sighs and groans broke the stillness +within; the words on that blood-spotted note touched him deeply, struck +many a note of discord in his heart, tore into shreds the cloak of sin +and guilt he had worn so long, and exposed to him the part he had taken +in dragging his companion, once a pure, noble-hearted, susceptible boy, +down deep into the villanies of his own dissipated life. And he was to +meet him again--where? + +The teaching of his childhood had not been in vain; the bread cast upon +the waters had not all perished; conscience whispered the truth, and +Hubert knew where he should meet Harris. The soldier's head bowed; he +felt he could not, he dare not, meet the soul he had ruined; the thought +of the terrible record against him broke down his spirit. "Great God!" +as he glanced upward, was all he uttered, in his despair, and his head +drooped again in deep anguish upon his bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ELLEN BUCHAN. + + She was the pride + Of her familiar sphere,--the daily joy + Of all who on her gracefulness might gaze, + And in the light and music of her way + Have a companion's portion. Who could feel, + While looking upon beauty such as hers, + That it would ever perish?--WILLIS. + + +That night, and for many days, Hubert knew no peace; sleeping or waking, +Harris was ever in his thoughts; turn where he would, there was a +remembrance of his dead companion, the loss of whom he deeply mourned. +Out of health himself, his bereavement was more felt, especially as he +was unable to seek other comrades with whom he might drive gloomy +thoughts away. At other times, when he had been ill, Harris had ever +sought him; but now, no one save those who waited upon him entered his +room, and he began to hate the sound of their footsteps, because he felt +that he paid for their sympathy. Poor Harris! how he missed him; how +long the days seemed, and how slow his recovery! Who shall say it was +not an opportunity vouchsafed by the Almighty to bring back his own +wandering soul? Why did he not pray in his hours of distress? No; the +heart long used to the neglect of that holy privilege and duty but ill +knows how to fly to the throne of grace in the hour of woe, and too +often throws back the hand of God with ungrateful murmurings. Hubert +never once poured out his burden of distress, never once looked to that +loving God whose eye, notwithstanding his wickedness, watched over him +with a father's love, but fretted and repined at the calamity which had +befallen him, until every pure and good feeling fled away once more, and +he began to be as cold and callous about the death of poor Harris as he +was about other things. + +Time, the great soother of woe in the human heart, threw its power over +Hubert; as it passed, it brought him returning health, and, once again +mingling in the busy scenes of his profession, the wounded arm, the dead +companion, and the warning, all shared the doom of the other events of +his life: they were gone, and he was happy in forgetting them. The +difficulty into which he had fallen with respect to his money matters, +however, taught him a lesson; and though he again joined the society of +many of his former companions, he never again fell into that terrible +vice which had so nearly ruined his worldly prospects. + +Some weeks had passed away; all the little effects belonging to poor +Harris were being collected, for the captain of his company had found +amongst some letters the names of some of the poor fellow's relations in +England. Hubert heard of what was being done, and one morning, meeting +the doctor of the regiment, they began talking the matter over. "I can +tell you where his mother lives," said Hubert, "if you will step into my +rooms; for now I remember it, I have by me a little note for her,--at +least I have her address upon it." + +They walked along together, talking of various matters, and having +reached Hubert's rooms he took from a little desk a small piece of +paper, and, without a thought, said, as he handed it to the doctor, "I +think you'll find it on that." + +The doctor read the note, and as he did so a sad expression stole over +his face, and then, looking at Hubert, he said, "Oh, Goodwin, what a +letter! Poor Harris! What a warning for us all. And what an escape you +had; the ball passed you, but it pierced his lungs. It might have been +your lot; though I trust a better account than this would have been sent +home of you." + +"Come now, doctor, no preaching; I cannot tell what account will be +given of me when I'm knocked off." + +"A true one, I have no doubt," was the reply. + +"Perhaps so; but I don't care what people say; I do my duty, no one can +deny that, and soldiers can't be preachers." + +"But they can be Christians, and find as much need of the Bible as the +sword. As much! Ah! more; it is a double weapon, a sword and a shield: +try it, Goodwin, if you never have, and see if I am not correct. If any +man is in heaven, my father is; he was thirty-four years a soldier, +fought in forty-one battles, and had as many wounds. And what preserved +him? What made him go cheerfully through all the trials of a soldier's +life? What made his name honoured and respected, as you yourself have +often observed? Was it the battles he fought, or the fame he won? No. He +read his Bible every day of his life, and tried to live as that holy +book says men ought to live. He infused, by God's help, the same spirit +into his company, and many a year must roll by before the words, 'Good +Captain Martin,' will cease to be heard; and the influence of his +example will linger still longer. No one can tell the power of example; +and it is a serious reflection that we each have to answer for the +amount we exercise over our fellow creatures." + +Hubert had thrown himself into an easy chain, and, with his hands thrust +into his pockets, he silently listened to the doctor; but now he +replied: "But surely we cannot possibly help persons imitating what we +do. I don't see that we are to be responsible for the folly and evil +deeds of others." + +"Certainly not, Goodwin; but still, how can we be sure that our conduct +has not caused many of the deeds you mention? Thousands of noble-hearted +pure-minded youths who have entered the army have been ruined, both in +body and soul, by the example of some wicked comrade." + +"Do you refer to Harris?" asked Hubert, starting up from his seat; +"because if you do, I may tell you at once that I am not going to be +accused of anything he did. If he chose to make a fool of himself, it is +nothing to me: my conscience is clear." + +"I refer to truth," said the doctor, "and my own experience; and if we +would only ask ourselves how far our conduct will affect those around +us, we should be better men. Man _will_ imitate, and it is what he +imitates that ennobles or debases him; it is example which has filled +the heart of man with all that is good and noble, and it has also helped +to make up long catalogues of crime. Our blessed Saviour knew the power +of it when He said to His disciples, 'Be ye perfect, as I am perfect.'" + +The calm and gentle manner of the doctor subdued Hubert's rising anger, +and as he listened to him _he_ also felt the deep power of example. +Before any other man who had dared to refer to Harris, as his heart told +him the doctor had done, he would have given way to the passion which +his guilty conscience prompted; but there was an overpowering influence +in the calm demeanour of that good man, which Hubert felt; and when he +was gone the room seemed very lonely, and Hubert paced it with rapid +stride, as he thought over the past: the life he had led and was still +leading, the dead Harris, and the warning note smote upon his memory, +and he wished--oh, how earnestly he wished!--that he were but half like +that good man who had just left him. It was a difficult matter, however, +for Hubert to profit much by what had transpired; the wish to lead a +better life was earnest enough, but old habits and evil associates had +forged their chains of fascination round him, and he went out to seek +company which would soon snap the silver cord of purity that was +beginning once more to form holy tracery on his heart. + +Thus it ever is with the heart that is continually striving against the +influences and power of the Spirit. To keep down the still small voice +of conscience, nothing is so effectual as the whirlwind of pleasure, and +man runs headlong from one sin to another, until the fatal hour dawns +when God's Spirit will no longer strive. Repeated warnings disregarded, +and opportunities neglected, ruined Hubert's better nature: in scenes +of dissipation the germs of holiness perished, and he sank down deep, +deeper still into sin, growing older in wickedness as he grew stronger +in manhood, belying, as many do, the noble image on his brow by the mark +of _Cain_ upon his heart. + +It was seldom that the regiment to which Hubert belonged remained longer +than a few years in one place, so that his stock of worldly possessions +had not greatly increased; but it was eighteen years since he left home, +and he was now about changing into another regiment, one more stationary +than his own, and marrying the daughter of an old English resident at +Agra. During the time Hubert had been in India, he had experienced many +vicissitudes often marching through the country, often in battle, and +occasionally sick and in hospital. He had grown from the pretty rosy boy +to a tall, dark sunburnt man, and was now a captain. In military things +he had improved; but though of those who went out with him to India more +than half had either fallen in battle or died of disease, nothing +softened his heart, and it was a wicked boast he frequently made in the +mess-room, that when he was unable to fight any longer he would think +about going home and being religious. Thus he went on wasting the vigour +of his life, tempting by his blasphemy the merciful God that was sparing +him, neglecting every opportunity for repentance, and occasionally +tearing up his Bible. + +The doctor, who had been nearly the same time in the regiment that +Hubert had, but who in age was ten years his senior, never lost an +opportunity of trying to influence the soldiers for good. Many a rebuff +was the reward of the good man's efforts, but he never wearied. Hubert, +though he listened to him once, had grown vain with his military +promotion, and shunned the good man who had once brought his heart near +to heaven. Dr. Martin, however, never lost sight of the reckless sinner, +but breathed many a sigh as he thought of one so gifted, and placed so +far above the wants of life, rushing fast to his ruin; and then he +prayed, with all the earnestness of a devoted heart, that God's Spirit +would stay him in his course of sin. + +Like a gleam of light upon a darkened object came the intelligence that +Hubert was about to be married to Ellen Buchan. Nearly every one in +Agra knew her, and there were but few who did not also know how good she +was; she and her family were distinguished for their piety, and many a +darkened soul in the idolatrous city where they resided learnt by their +teaching and example to place Christianity above the idol-worship of +their childhood, and became followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. +Surely such companionship as Ellen Buchan would be a blessing to Hubert, +and a change must come upon him, else he would be no helpmate for one so +good as she was; and the doctor wondered whether a change had not +already come over him, by his having expressed an intention of moving +into another regiment. + +How fervently he hoped that it might be so; and though he now seldom +exchanged a word with Hubert, he did not forget him, but still hoped +that he might lead a better life. Imperceptibly to Hubert, a change had +indeed stolen over him since he knew Ellen; many of his old haunts were +forsaken, former friends were given up, and Hubert had something to bear +from the taunting words and manners of his old associates; but he had +other thoughts, new habits were being formed, life had a thousand +charms, and his face beamed more joyous and more handsome every day; his +chief desire was to sell out, and purchase in the regiment stationed at +Agra. A few disappointments attended Hubert's change of regiment: it was +delayed longer than he had expected; still, the matter was now, to all +appearance, nearly settled, and preparations were being made for the +marriage. If Hubert had ever been thoroughly happy, he appeared so now: +his past life, with all its associations, was absorbed in the present, +in Ellen every thought was centred. + +Alas! how frail are man's hopes. One sultry evening a messenger came to +tell Hubert to come at once to Mr. Buchan's, for something had happened. + +With a beating heart and hurried step he hastened to the house, but +there was sorrow there. Ellen had been complaining all day, and, as the +evening drew on, her illness increased, and she was found to be +suffering from fever. Hubert was frightened, for the fever had been +prevalent, and frequently fatal. That night and the next day he stayed +at the house, and then, how dreadful came the intelligence that her +life was despaired of! Now Hubert felt, perhaps for the first time in +his life, the bitter woe of hopes all crushed; for the thought of losing +Ellen was terrible. What could he do! All around him was a scene of woe. +Changed he apparently was in his conduct and habits, but his heart was +the same, and his sorrow gave way to murmuring and raving about the +affliction. How earnestly he hoped for her recovery, yet how unchastened +was his spirit! for upon meeting Dr. Martin, who, after inquiring about +Ellen, added kindly, "I hope, if only for your sake, she will recover," +he replied sharply, "Sir, you hope nothing of the kind; if she dies you +will upbraid and taunt me." Unjust and cruel as this remark was, the +doctor pitied and forgave him, and stood gazing after him as he turned +away. + +Ellen died. We need not tell the deep bereavement it was to all who +loved her. Reader! it matters nothing to thee; but there was a home made +desolate, and more than one heart riven. Such is life! A time will come +when the deep mystery of such dealings shall be explained; till then, +hope on! trust on! believe on! Satan would tempt thee in the weak, +trying hour to doubt, but remember God does not willingly afflict; the +finest gold has been seven times purified, and happy is he who can look +upward, even though it be through his tears, and say, "It is thy will, +Lord; do with me as it seemeth thee good." + +All who knew Hubert pitied him under the deep affliction which had +befallen him, and for a time his spirit bowed beneath it; he overcame +it, however, sooner than many had expected, joined himself again to many +of his old companions, and gave up all intention of selling out of his +regiment, and very soon he bade farewell to the friends he had made in +Agra, and moved with his regiment to a station further up the country. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +HUBERT WOUNDED. + + On comes the foe--to arms, to aims, + We meet--'tis to death or glory; + 'Tis victory in all her charms, + Or fame in Britain's story.--W. SMYTH. + + +Three more years passed away: it had been a trying time, for a native +tribe near a neighbouring jungle gave Hubert's regiment continual +trouble; and now orders were received at the barracks to prepare for a +battle, for large numbers of Hindoos were coming down from the hills, +and several British regiments were on the march to assist the station +that was menaced. + +Hubert received the order, and gave it out again to his company, and +then, without another word went to his rooms. It was not his usual way: +he generally said something in praise of British bravery, and tried to +inspire his men to action; but this time he was silent, and the soldiers +did not let it pass without remark. + +Never before had the order for battle been less welcome, and he was +unable to account for the strange depression of his spirits; he joined +none of his companions, but sat the whole evening by himself, and +retired to rest much earlier than usual. His sleep, however, was +disturbed, and once, in the still hour of night, he said aloud, "What +ails me, that I cannot sleep? I am not ill: I wonder if anything is to +happen to me--surely not; after nearly twenty-two years' service, I am +to have better luck than be knocked off now; it is a pretty safe thing, +they say, if one gets over the twentieth year. I shall see Old England +yet." No more sleep, however, came to him; he thought of his home, his +parents, and all to whom he had been dear, and he sighed deeply as he +wished he had loved them better. + +The morning sun had scarcely risen before the bugle sounded, and in a +very short time the regiment was on the march, for they had six miles to +go, and the heat would be against them later in the day. + +On the previous evening, Hubert had passed some of the dull hours in +looking over the little relics he had collected during his residence in +India, and in filling up the box he had brought with him from England, +he took out the remains of his Bible; it was sadly destroyed; the +covers, some of the Old, and the greater part of the New Testament, were +what remained of it, and after hesitating for a few minutes what he +should do with it, he thrust it into a pocket in the left side of the +bosom of his coat. It was there still; he had forgotten to remove it +when he rose hastily at the sound of the bugle, and as he marched with +his regiment, he little thought of the blessing which that torn, +despised treasure would yet be to him. It was a long, toilsome march, +through thick jungle, and the soldiers sat down to rest when they got +through it, and waited to be joined by other forces. They had come out +against a considerable village, the residence of a great chief, but not +so well fortified by architectural defences as by the hordes of its +savage inhabitants. From the spot where the soldiers rested they could +see the place they had come to attack, and as the day was passing +without the other regiments appearing, a council was held, and beneath +the shadow of the palm trees the soldiers received orders to remain +quiet until new commands were issued. + +The day at length was closing, and Hubert, with three brother officers, +sat down beneath a tree together. At first they talked of the glory in +fighting for their king and country, then other matters connected with +military life followed; but as the time passed away, and the hours of +night brought with them their fitful gloom, the conversation changed, +and for the first time for many years Hubert talked of his home. + +"It is a long time since I left England," he said; "many, many a year; +and I have somehow neglected all my old friends there. I often wish I +had acted differently, and thought a little more about them, and written +to them sometimes; but it is no use regretting--not that I have much to +regret, though, for letter-writing is a silly, dawdling business at +best, and never was much in my way; but, however, should it so happen +to-morrow that the chances run against me--you know what I mean--well, +there's some one of the family left, perhaps, who will like to know the +end of me; so let me ask a favour. Take this slip of paper, and if your +luck is better than mine, just send a letter to that address, and tell +them where your old comrade fell, and tell them he--nay, tell them what +you like." + +The three officers each took down Hubert's address, and promised to +perform his wish; but they too had friends and relations in Britain's +distant isle, and they each asked of Hubert a similar boon, should the +fortune of the day be his, not theirs; then, with a friendly grasp of +the hand, they exchanged promises; and to think, perhaps, more deeply of +the past, or the morrow, they bade each other good-night and lay down in +silence on the ground. Only for a few hours did anything like stillness +hover over the beleaguered village; at early dawn the natives, having +heard that the English were surrounding them, came out in great numbers, +to drive away or attack their invaders. A terrible fight now commenced, +wearing any form but that of a set battle, and it lasted the whole day; +but at length the chief was slain, and the Hindoos, upon hearing it, +fled in all directions, leaving the English masters of the village. +There had been a sad slaughter of the natives, and more than two +hundred of the English had fallen. Hubert's regiment had suffered +considerably; but he and his three companions were spared, and they met +again in the same place where they had passed the previous evening; +neither wound nor mark of warfare was upon any of them; they were only +fatigued, and, as they shook each other by the hand, they used some of +their old familiar terms of friendship, and sat down again beneath the +tree. There was no talk of home now, no thought of the gracious shield +which had preserved them in the fight, no word of thanksgiving to +Almighty God for their safety. + +As night came on they proceeded to the captured village; but in the +morning, as all the soldiers were not required to remain, Hubert's +company, and one or two others, were ordered back to their respective +barracks. Several of Hubert's company were missing; familiar faces were +gone, and well-remembered voices were hushed; yet, with pride and high +spirits, most of those that remained, after having helped to bury some +of the dead, prepared to march as soon as the sun would permit. It was a +beautiful evening when the soldiers started, but they had not gone very +far before Hubert and some of the other officers fell a little behind +the men, and sat down upon the short dry grass and weeds. Just as they +were about to pursue their journey through the jungle, some beautiful +birds attracted their attention, and they turned aside from the pathway +in pursuit. This thoughtless act was attended with danger, for the +evening was fast closing, and there was every probability that they +would lose their way. At the suggestion of one, however, they turned +back, and made all possible haste to overtake the soldiers. Night came +on much more rapidly than they had expected, and before they had gone +far in the jungle it grew very dark. They pushed on as rapidly as they +could, but the path was unfamiliar to them, and they soon lost each +other. Sometimes a rustling amongst the bushes made Hubert start, and +once he thought he heard voices besides the scattered ones of his +companions. Very soon, however, all was silent; they were all wandering +different ways, and Hubert was alone. Once he thought of climbing into a +tree, and staying there till daybreak, but he felt so confident that he +could not have much further to go that he made another effort to reach +the barracks. Suddenly a rustling in the bush startled him again, and +laying his hand upon his sword he called out the watchword of his +regiment. There was no answer, and thinking it perhaps some bird, he +went on again, keeping up his courage by occasionally whistling. He had +almost reached the edge of the jungle, for he had fortunately kept near +the right path, when a wild shout fell upon his ear, a flash of light +illumined all around him, and Hubert, stunned and wounded, fell to the +ground. + +The moon rose calmly in the sky, and her soft rays fell upon the trees +beneath which Hubert lay. He was still insensible, and the brown grass +around him was stained with blood. A slight breath of wind that passed +over him, gently waved the dark hair from his wounded forehead; another +ball had shattered his right leg, which had bent up beneath him as he +fell. + +Not far away, in the barracks, the next morning the roll was called; +Hubert's companions had arrived safe during the night; they now told +where they had missed him, and a piquet of men was sent out to search +for him. They did not go far into the jungle before Hubert was found; he +had partly recovered from his faintness, but was too exhausted to speak: +they conveyed him to the hospital, where his wounds were dressed, and +every attention was paid him, but he had lost so much blood as he lay +all night upon the ground, that no hopes whatever were given of his +recovery, and he lay several days without speaking a word. + +The doctor came day after day, as often as he could snatch a moment from +his duties, and sat down by Hubert's bed: he knew all about him, knew +the life he had led, and felt all the weight of the dread thought of a +soul passing into eternity unsaved. There he lay, that reckless, sinning +one, now helpless, dying, and many a heartfelt prayer was breathed by +the one friend that still clung to him, that he might not be taken away +in his sin. It is not kith nor kin that bounds the Christian's love; +like his Divine Master, he deems precious every human soul, and no +matter 'neath what sky or colour, whether friend or foe, he cannot see +that priceless thing perish without an effort to save it. Many a long +hour the doctor sat and watched by Hubert's bed: the leg had been set, +and appeared favourable, but reason did not return, and it was for that +he watched and prayed, and yet how that same reason had shunned and +insulted him. Good man, he forgot all about himself now, and watched as +a fond brother over the sufferer. His prayers were heard; Hubert awoke +from insensibility, and occasionally spoke a word to those who attended +him. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE TIME FOR REFLECTION. + + O, lost and found! All gentle souls below + Their dearest welcome shall prepare, and prove + Such joy o'er thee as raptured seraphs know, + Who learn their lesson at the throne of love.--KEBLE. + + +A week had passed. Hubert was slightly better, and there was a faint +hope that he would ultimately recover. The doctor had been two or three +times during each day to see him, and now, as the sun was setting, he +came again. Weary as he was with his usual duties, he had still his +Master's work to do, and as he took his seat by Hubert's bed he asked if +he should read to him. Hubert knew quite well that the doctor's book was +the Bible, and though he also knew that but very faint hopes were given +of his recovery, he replied, "No, thank you; I shall perhaps soon be +better, when I shall have plenty of time to read." The doctor tried to +prevail, but Hubert resisted, until he became excited, when his friend, +wishing him a good night, left him alone. + +"Yes, I hope soon to be better," he repeated to himself, as the doctor +left the room, though, as he gazed at the three empty beds near him, he +little thought that the insensibility to all pain which occasionally +stole over him, rendered the hope of his recovery very faint, and that +unless a change took place his couch would soon be empty also. + +Another and another day passed. Hubert was no better; and as the doctor +again sat down beside him, he said, as he gently took the feverish hand, +"My friend, perhaps you would like some one to send a letter to your +friends in England; is there anything you would like to say? Shall I +write for you?" + +"Not now." + +"Why not now? I have told you how precarious your state is: you had +better send a few lines home: let me write something for you,--shall I?" + +"No, no! I have no wish to write. They have not heard for more than +twenty years; it is no use writing now, they may all be dead." + +"Oh, no! that is not probable; and they will in time hear of the battle +you have been in, and see your name amongst the wounded. It would +comfort them greatly to hear from you; and if, as you say, you have not +written for so long a time, how they would rejoice to find you had not +forgotten them!" + +"No, doctor," said Hubert, faintly, "it would be no joy to them, they +cannot care for me now. I broke my mother's heart; I know it. I dreamt +it once, years ago; and many a time the sad face I saw in my dream has +come before me when I have least wanted it; many other things, too, +doctor, I could tell you which forbid my writing. No, I cannot, at least +not now--another time." + +"No, my poor friend, not another time, write now: I'll write, shall I?" + +"Write what, and to whom? No, I tell you, they are dead," and he turned +his face away. + +The doctor knew well that Hubert's illness was too serious a matter to +be trifled with: everything was against him; it was the hottest season +of the year, dissipation had undermined his constitution, and his mind +was uneasy; and the thought had struck that good man, that if he could +get Hubert to turn his thoughts homeward, reflection might bring +remorse for his past life, and he might think of eternity. For a few +seconds he stood still, gazing silently at his patient, wondering what +he should do. It was not his custom to see a soldier die without feeling +any concern; his own well-worn Bible testified how often he had used +that sacred book; and written in the Book of Life were perhaps not a few +names of erring yet repentant sinners, brought to know Christ by his +humble efforts. "Soldier brother," he said, as he took the hot hand once +again in his own, "I must not be refused _all_ I ask; let me read to +you." + +Hubert made no answer, and the doctor turned over the soiled pages of +his Bible and read, with a soft clear voice, the fifty-first Psalm.-- + +"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; according +unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions," +&c., &c. + +The psalm was ended: none of its petitions, however, appeared to have +touched the heart of the sick man, though their effect was great upon +the doctor, who, kneeling down, poured out his soul's grief in a deep, +heartfelt prayer, begged hard and earnestly for mercy and pardon for his +suffering brother, and implored that a ray of light might beam into his +heart. Never before had such a prayer sounded in Hubert's ear, and yet, +when the good man rose from his knees, the only sound that he heard was, +"Doctor, I can sleep." + +"Good night, then," was the answer; "I shall come early in the morning, +and before then, if you require me; good night." + +"Good night;" and there was a gentle pressure of the hand; then the +doctor left the room. + +"Is he gone?" said Hubert, faintly, a few minutes after. "Oh! why did he +leave me?" and the poor sufferer's eyes turned towards the door. + +The watcher that night was a woman: it was not often that a woman tended +the sick soldiers in the hospital where Hubert now lay, but it was his +lot to be so fortunate on this occasion; and she was sitting beside an +open window, looking out upon the sun, which was sinking in the west, +and throwing, as she was thinking, its rays upon her English home, when +she heard Hubert speak, and, hastening to his side, in an instant she +asked him kindly if he required anything. Perhaps his heart was too +full, for he only turned his head away and sighed deeply. + +"Captain," she said, as she bent over him, "does anything trouble you? +Can I get you anything?" And as she gently smoothed back the hair upon +his forehead, she thought she saw a tear roll down his sunburnt cheek. +That tear was enough; the stern scenes she had witnessed during a long +sojourn in India, had made her callous to many things, and left many a +scar upon her heart; but she was woman still, and could not resist the +power of that tear. She sat down upon the stool by the soldier's bed, +chafed his hot hand in hers, cooled his brow again and again, and spoke +soothingly and kindly to him; still he was silent, gave no answer to any +of her kind inquiries, except by an occasional sigh. + +"I know you are uneasy, Captain; tell me, oh, do tell me! I've asked you +many things, and you have answered me nothing; do tell me what's the +matter. What can I do for you?" + +"Nothing." + +"Yes, Captain, let me do something; shall I fetch Dr. Martin? What shall +I do?" + +"Will you read to me?" + +"Yes, that I will;" and the nurse immediately fetched her Bible, and for +a long time, by the dim flickering candle, her voice rose softly upon +the stillness of that chamber, as she read of mercy and forgiveness to +the penitent and heart-broken sinner. + +It may have been that the sound of her voice had a soothing effect upon +Hubert's ear, for he sank calmly to sleep, and his rest was peaceful. +When he awoke, however, with the morning light, his pulse beat high, +owing probably to the excitement of the previous day, and the doctor was +still unable to give hope of his recovery; and after another day, when +the shadows of evening drew on, that good man took his seat once more by +the sufferer's bed, and read again, in hopes to soothe the troubled +spirit and lead the uneasy thoughts to better things. + +"Why do you come here, and sit and tire yourself reading to me? You must +already be weary with your day's work. Why do you come here?" And +Hubert, with a steady eye, gazed into the doctor's face as he made the +inquiry. + +"Why do I come?" replied the doctor, as he gently took Hubert's hand; +but he felt his throat swell at that moment, and while he hesitated +Hubert repeated, "Yes, why do you come?" + +"Because it is my duty, and because I have a deep affection for you. I +_am_ weary, but what matters that? You are more; so my necessity is not +like yours. And another thing, I know you are unhappy." + +"Who told you?" + +"I have not needed to be told; I know it well enough. You know I know +it, and for that cause I come to you, but the first thing I ask you, you +refuse. You know not how great a comfort it would be to you to write +home to your parents; there is much for you to do, but that is the first +thing, for it is a holy duty." + +"I have never done it, doctor, may God forgive me and I cannot do it +now; it is too late, too late. You said right; I am not happy; the days +and nights I have lain here have told me that all is too late now; the +life I have led has been a wicked one, and if I die I am lost Oh, what +shall I do?" + +There was nothing stern in the doctor's heart; he had striven, and wept, +and prayed earnestly that Hubert might see the error of his way, but +now, at this confession and despair, he almost regretted that he had +added to the sufferer's woes. There was no exulting over the poor +sinner, but bending down close to Hubert's ear, he said-- + +"Fear not; pour out your heart's sorrow to God, for, deep as your sins +are, He _can_ and _will_ save you, if, with a true, penitent, and broken +heart, you confess all your sins to Him and throw yourself helpless on +His mercy. You can do nothing for yourself; your own poor sorrowing +heart is an offering Jesus Christ will accept if you will give it to +Him. Don't hesitate, Christ is waiting to receive you; do, then, with +godly sorrow, throw yourself upon His mercy." + +"But I cannot," said Hubert. "It may be true, all you say, but I have +sinned so long, or else I am different to other people. God may forgive +such as you, but I have sinned too much." + +"Oh no, not too much for God to forgive. He knows all you have done, and +He knows all you need. Christ has died for you; why should you be lost?" + +"Does God know _all_ I've done? Does He know how hard I tried to lead a +better life?--and then Ellen died! No, I cannot believe it Go, go; leave +me alone. What matters how I die? Go, and leave me as I am." And, +clasping his hands tightly upon his bosom, he said with earnestness, as +he looked upward, "Lord, have mercy upon me." Then he was exhausted; a +faint hue came over his face, and the doctor, seeing that the strength +of the sufferer was failing, stayed by his bedside to administer to his +need. Hubert's hands had fallen upon the coverlet, and as the doctor +took one in his own, he started at its strange coldness, and for a long +time he chafed it. All, indeed, that could be done was done for Hubert, +and throughout the long, sultry, silent night the nurse and doctor +watched with Christian love beside the lonely bed. Hubert at length fell +into a heavy sleep; it was the crisis of the fever, and never was infant +slumber more softly guarded than that of his. And the next day went on; +night came again; the sun in all its splendour went down in the western +horizon, and the doctor crept softly into Hubert's chamber to take +another look at the sleeper. He had gazed some minutes, he had breathed +a prayer, and was turning away when, with a gentle sigh, Hubert awoke. +There was a ray of light upon his face; he was better; the fever had +left him, and the doctor, after administering a cordial, gave him for +the night to the care of the nurse, who well knew how to attend to him; +and he assured Hubert that, if he attended to his instructions, his leg +would be the only cause for uneasiness, and he hoped, by God's blessing, +he would soon recover from that. Then, as he was leaving, he promised to +come again the next morning and read to him. The morning came, the +doctor was there, and he told all about God's mercy and love to the +vilest of earth's sinners; then he knelt and prayed, with all the +earnestness of his heart, for all God's grace to the sufferer; and with +such simple words and touching sadness did he tell the Prodigal's story, +that Hubert's unbelief and despair yielded at once to the mighty power +of direct communication with God, and tears fell fast upon his pillow. + +The doctor had been more than an hour with Hubert, and now onward to +other sufferers he went, with his double mission. The scene in Hubert's +room had urged him to be more earnest in his Master's cause, and his +soul was full of prayer that a heavenly ray might illume Hubert's +darkened heart and bring him to the feet of Jesus. Little did the +sufferer know how earnestly that good man desired his salvation, and +little did the regiment know, as its members saw him, with earnest +thoughtful brow, wending his way beneath the shadow of the high wall, +that in yonder lone building lay the cause of his toiling through the +hot summer days, toiling again as night came round, growing more sallow +and more gaunt, yet never seeming to weary. "My grace is sufficient for +thee," was strictly exemplified in that earnest faithful disciple; God +blessed him, and kept him a burning and a shining light, amidst all the +sin and temptation of India's dark land; and though a scoff and a sneer +were not unfrequently the reward of his efforts to reclaim the sinner, +many a scoffer sent for him in the last sad hour, and a few testified, +by a better life, to the holiness of his. + +Each time the doctor returned to Hubert, he found him slightly better; +his wounded forehead was nearly well, and his shattered leg was +progressing favourably; all traces of feverishness were gone, and the +doctor seemed pleased as he told him that though at present the least +thing might bring on fever again, which would certainly be fatal, yet, +if all went well, he hoped in a few days to be able to pronounce him out +of danger. + +"Pray that it may be so," said Hubert, "for I dare not die now: God has +heard your last prayer; a week ago I could have died to rid my heart of +its dreadful despair, and the terrible weight that was upon it, but not +now. I do think there is a little hope for me--pray something for me, +you know so well all about me;--how came you to know so much?" + +The doctor, sitting down by the bed, said, "Goodwin, many a year has +passed away since you and your companions first attracted my notice. I +remember well the morning you landed in Calcutta, for, if you recollect, +your own doctor died on the passage out, and I accepted the appointment +as you lay out in the bay, and went down to meet you on landing. I was, +of course, strange to all of you, but the thing that struck me most was +the extreme youth of the regiment--the majority did not appear much over +twenty years of age, and then there was a good number of youths +apparently about sixteen. I remember that many remarks were made at the +time about you all, and I came to the conclusion that at least half of +you had come to India to die. I have not been wrong either in that; but +I am going from the point--I remember that I was particularly struck +with you and a fair, gentle-looking companion you had." + +Hubert sighed, "It was poor Harris." + +"Yes, that was his name, poor fellow. Well, very soon I found out all +about the life you were leading; your higher privileges were snares, not +only to you and your companions, but to all the men, and the first grief +I felt after joining you was at the reckless and sinful example you were +setting. When first struck down with fever, how I longed, hoped, and +prayed for your conversion. But you know how your life passed on, and I +need not tell you that from that first hour of meeting you till now, I +have watched you, and prayed for you, and I know quite well that God's +Holy Spirit has often been striving very hard with you; but the warnings +you have had have generally passed away like the dew upon the earth, and +now the Almighty has mercifully stopped your career by this affliction. +Don't let it pass like the others have done, but take your heart, with +all its weight of sin, and lay it bare before God. He knows all your +need, will help you in all your sorrows, pardon all your sins, and make +you holy; but you must ask His aid--you must confess all your sin--you +must pray to Him with a broken heart." + +Hubert sighed, and then, after a moment's pause, said, "Doctor, it is no +easy matter to do as you say I ought; and you judge me harshly when you +say I have neglected all the warnings I have had. You remember poor +Harris? Well, his death had more effect upon me than you know; for weeks +and weeks I thought of nothing else, and tried very hard to change, but +somehow I could not And then poor Ellen! you remember her? I should have +been another man if she had lived; but no, I was not allowed to be +better: I lost her, and I know I have been bad since; it drove me almost +mad. But, Doctor, was it all my fault?" And Hubert burst into tears. + +"Goodwin," said the doctor, as he took Hubert's hand, "beware how you +rebuke the Almighty; His ways are not our ways; let me beg of you to +have faith in Him now; if you are spared to recover, we will talk this +point over together, but not now, time is too precious. Believe me, He +does all things well, and willeth not that any should perish; if you +will only in true faith, nothing doubting, turn to Him, confess your +sins, and ask His mercy, you will be astonished how plain many things +will appear that now seem dark and mysterious. Oh, do pray to Him!" + +"I have," said Hubert, softly: "I thought yesterday that I never could, +but last night, after you were gone, some words I learnt once when a +child came all into my mind; they seemed all I wanted to say, and yet +they were only part of a little child's prayer; indeed, I had long ago +forgotten them. Doctor, will you pray?" + +The good man knelt, and poured out his heart to Heaven for the long +sinning but repenting brother; and it was a holy sight to see the tears +streaming down the pallid cheek of the once gay, reckless soldier, as he +listened to another's prayer in his behalf. The doctor's bosom was full +also--the wanderer was at last coming home--the straying sheep was +returning to the fold--the poor child of earth was yielding up his proud +spirit to the hand that afflicted, yet was stretched out to save +him--and the good man prayed that the sufferer might be pardoned, and +spared to set forth the beauty of that holiness of life which he had so +long neglected. + +Another week had passed; each day as it dawned found Hubert somewhat +better, but then each evening both the nurse and doctor watched +anxiously beside his bed, for his state was precarious: one thing, +however, that improved was the state of his mind; _that_ neither +slumbered nor went back--but from the hour that he poured out his first +earnest heart-breathings to Heaven, he became more penitent and more +anxious; all the carelessness and indifference with which he had treated +religion came like so many accusing spirits before him; but, though the +reflection of his past life helped at times to blanch his sunken cheek, +he was more at peace in his bosom than he had been since his childhood. + +Everything that could possibly be done for Hubert he received from the +nurse and doctor, and their attentions were blessed, for at last Hubert +was pronounced "out of danger;" and though he would never again be fit +for the army, there were hopes of his perfect recovery. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WHAT THE TORN BIBLE HAD DONE FOR HUBERT. + + I will throw off this dead and useless part, + As a strong runner, straining for his life, + Unclasps a mantle to the hungry winds. + ALEXANDER SMITH. + + +Five weeks more passed by, during which time Hubert grew in grace, and +his soul appeared to be ripening for heaven; his health improved, and by +the aid of a wheel-chair he could be moved to the window of his room, +where he sat for many an hour reading the Bible, or enjoying the soft +warm air, as he gazed out upon the forests and jungle that lay before +him almost at his feet, or the snow-capped Himalayas in the distance. + +One day, as he sat by the window, he asked the nurse if she knew what +became of the coat he wore on the day when he was wounded. + +"Oh, yes, Captain," she replied, "I took care of it and put it away; if +you wish to have it, I will fetch it for you." + +"Thank you," said Hubert, "I should like to have it now." And the nurse +went immediately to find it. + +In a very few minutes the nurse returned, and, as she unfolded the coat, +she said, "I fear it is very dirty, though these stains will be from the +blood; I saw them when I folded it up, but I thought it best to take +care of it, for I know soldiers generally prize the coat they were +wounded in; I have sent many a one home to England to the friends of +those who have died--you will, I hope, be able to take your own." + +"I hope so, nurse, though it will be some time yet before I can go;" and +then he began to examine the coat, and turned it over to find the pocket +in the inside of the left breast: he found it, and there too was all +that remained of his "torn Bible." Pale as his cheek was from pain and +sickness, a deeper pallor came over it as he drew out the Bible, and the +cover of it met his eye. What was the meaning of the small round hole he +saw? All the truth flashed upon his mind at once; he knew what it +meant; and the cold perspiration stood out upon his forehead, as, with +nervous hand, he turned over leaf by leaf until he came to a small +bullet. It was not large, but sufficient to have destroyed life if it +had penetrated his heart; and as he cast it upon the floor, he clasped +the torn Bible to his bosom, and bent his head low over his mother's +last gift--that despised and neglected treasure. + +The nurse had seen all that Hubert did upon receiving his coat; she saw +him draw the book from the pocket, tremble as he opened it, and then +cast the bullet upon the floor; but she would have taken but little +notice of all that, if she had not seen his head droop as though +something deeply troubled him. + +"Come, Captain," she said, "that book makes you think sad things; come, +sir, keep up your spirits, and give me the book to keep till you are +stronger." + +"Don't touch it; leave it with me," said Hubert, pushing back her hand; +"I am strong enough--go away." + +"No, Captain, I must not go away; you are not strong enough to bear any +excitement; it would just throw you back again, after all our care of +you. Think, sir, of getting well, not about that coat and book--I wish I +had not brought them to you. I dare say when you see that coat all +stained with blood and torn, you think about the narrow escape you have +had: but cheer up, Captain, and don't think about it now." + +"Look here," said Hubert, pointing to the cover of the book, "see what +saved my life;" and then he relieved his heart by telling her all about +that book; and as she listened she sat down upon a low chair before him, +and, poor sympathizing one, she forgot, while her own tears fell as she +heard the story he told, that she had, only a few minutes before, chided +him for his sadness. + +Three months had passed; Hubert's illness had been blessed to him: by +the aid of crutches he moved about again, and frequently encountered his +old companions; some of them had visited him in hospital, and there was +a rumour in the regiment that Captain Goodwin had "gone religious." It +caused some profane mirth amongst his comrades--the companions of his +former life--and he felt ashamed to meet them. However, at last he did +so, and it was when they came around him, and so warmly welcomed him +back again, and expressed their hope that he would soon be restored to +perfect health, that he told them, with a holy boldness, that he +regretted his past life, and could never be one of their number again, +unless they gave up their evil ways and walked with him in the path of +holiness. As might have been expected, the confession on the part of +Hubert was received, for the most part, with laughter and derision; but +his heart was set upon the thing he sought, and from the hour he +received the rebuff he determined, if possible, to commence a work +amongst his reckless companions. The same spirit of earnestness and +devotion which had helped Hubert in worldly advancement, marked his +efforts now. He had partaken of heavenly things, and, like a true +disciple, could not bear the thought of any soul perishing; so, leaning +upon his crutches, with his torn Bible in his hand, he went as often as +his strength would allow, and his own soul grew in grace as he told +God's love to sinners to his comrades. Hubert did not labour very long +at his new work; his wounds had been too severe to allow of his +continuing in the army, and before another three months had passed, an +order came for him to return to England. + +At first the idea of going back to his own country was not welcome; +indeed, India seemed to be his home more than England did, and as he +turned to the nurse, who still attended him, he said-- + +"Nurse, I shall not go to England. How can I go with this poor useless +leg? I had better stay here." + +"But, Captain, your leg is not useless; the doctor says you may some day +be able to walk with a stick." + +"Does he? It will be very long first, I fear. No, I think I shall not go +home; no one will know me, for it is not as though I went home all +right." + +"Bless you, sir," replied the nurse, "plenty will know you--your mother +will, for one. I remember when our Tom ran away and went to sea, and was +gone ten years, and we never heard a word about him; well, all at once, +home he came, and the moment we caught sight of him at the garden gate, +though he had grown from a boy to a stout man, we all cried out, 'Here's +poor Tom.' We had never heard a word about his coming, or anything, yet +we knew him, and all ran out to meet him. I remember it well; and how +poor mother threw her arms round his neck and kissed him, and called him +her darling, and I can't tell you what; then how she stood and cried, +and scolded him for running away, and never writing; and then how she +took up her apron to wipe away her tears, and then kissed and hugged him +again. I never shall forget it. Poor mother! She and Tom are in heaven +now. I watched beside them both, and though my heart nearly broke when I +lost them, I had rather have them where they are than enduring the +trials of this life." + +"Did your brother die soon after he returned, then?" inquired Hubert. + +"He only lived three years after he came home, for he had been very much +beaten about, and his health was quite broken. Poor mother died six +months before he did. The year after they died I married, and came out +here, and I have seen some trouble. I buried three little children one +after another, and then I buried my husband. They all lie just out +there, under that large tree in the corner of the burial-ground. I was +ordered home, but I could not leave the spot where they were lying, so +gave up my passage to England, and have stayed here ever since. I have +only one wish, and that is to be buried just out there beside them. It +is sixteen years since my husband died; and the first time you can get +so far just go and see how nicely I keep his and the children's graves." + +Hubert was interested in the woman's story; her patient devotion and +affection won his heart, and he took the first opportunity of visiting +the graves of her loved ones, and as he gazed upon the well-kept mounds +before him, his thoughts sped over the ocean to a distant land, and he +saw the village churchyard, with the grassy hillocks beneath which lay +the remains of many members of his family, and lifting up his heart in +prayer to God for humility and strength, he determined to bid farewell +to India, and return to the fold from which he had wandered. + +It was soon known that Hubert was going to England, and many ready hands +and hearts assisted him in preparing to go. All his little property was +collected, several presents were given him, and many a regret was +expressed at his leaving; all of which made it harder to go than he had +anticipated, and he felt, as the time drew near, more and more sorry to +leave. But there was no alternative; so he decided to sail in the first +vessel that left Calcutta after he arrived there. The doctor, to whom +Hubert had communicated his intention, came to him one evening and told +him that, as he was at liberty to choose his own vessel, he could not do +better than make his passage over the seas in the _Arctic_. "She is a +splendid ship," said the doctor, "and the captain is a religious man. I +know him well. You will not be annoyed with riotous conduct in his +vessel, and will have no cause to complain of the manner in which he +observes the Sabbath." + +"Ah, that will be the ship, then," replied Hubert; "but did you ever +sail in it?" + +"Yes, twice to the Cape of Good Hope and back; and I can assure you that +I have been in many a church and have not heard the service with such +comfort as I heard it in that ship. Our beautiful Liturgy was read with +such deep earnestness and pathos that I thought then, and I have +thought ever since, that out on the ocean, with dangers around us, is +the fittest place for those grand prayers to be breathed; for as I +joined and as I listened, I thought I could see Christ beside me walking +upon the sea, and my soul seemed carried up higher into heaven than it +had ever been before." + +"That was beautiful!" exclaimed Hubert; "I always like to hear you talk +like that, doctor, it makes me feel something of the same kind. I shall +like that ship; when will she sail?" + +"I scarcely know, but it will not be long. She has been lying at +Calcutta some time, and I should think is about returning to England; +she has not gone, I know, because Lieutenant White told me last night +that he intended sending a box to England by her. By the way, he can, +perhaps, tell us when she will sail." + +It was found, upon inquiry, that the _Arctic_ would set sail in about +ten days; so Hubert bade farewell as soon as he could to his friends, +and, accompanied by the doctor, was in a few days on his way to +Calcutta. He bore the fatigue of the journey better than he had +expected, though he was very much exhausted, and was heartily glad when +he reached the ship, and lay down to rest in his cabin. The doctor +stayed all night, and then the next morning they took leave of each +other, promising to continue the friendship which, to Hubert at least, +had been such a blessing. Hubert did not at first feel all he had lost +when the doctor left, for his mind was somewhat occupied in arranging +his cabin, so as to be as comfortable as possible on the voyage; but +this, of course, had an end, and a consciousness came over him that he +was friendless on the wide world amongst strangers. At first he thought +it would be better to keep so, and not leave his cabin at all, for, if +he went on deck, the remarks or sympathy of the other passengers would +be very annoying. They might pity him, and be kind and attentive to him +in his weakness, but it would only make him feel more keenly the +calamity which had fallen on him in the full vigour of his manhood; and +then, as his thoughts rushed back, and he saw himself but a few months +before so full of health and activity, he forgot the great blessing that +had accompanied his illness, and his heart murmured and rebelled. A dark +cloud seemed to have fallen over Hubert: for three days he maintained a +gloomy silence in his cabin; and the sailor that waited upon him told +his shipmates that it was a pity his honour had chosen the sea for a +grave, for unless he changed he would, in his honest opinion, die before +they were far out of the bay. "Tell him so, Ben, for you know it ain't +lucky to have a death on board," said one of the sailors. However, Ben +said nothing to Hubert, for in his own mind he began to think that the +soldier had a sorrow, which would perhaps wear away in time; and the +sailor was not wrong. It was a dark hour in Hubert's life--a weak +yielding of the flesh; and who can wonder? In the short time that had +passed since he had given up his evil ways, how much instruction and +counsel he had received from the kind friend who had brought him to the +vessel; and the kind nurse, so full of sympathy towards him, knowing all +about him, had helped to buoy up his spirits when they were sinking, and +by them the struggle between his old and his new nature had been +lightened. How Hubert missed those two friends now! He never thought he +could have cared for them half so much. In the gloomy thoughts that had +come over him, he would have given much for one of them to have been +near; but he was alone, and his nature warred with his spirit, and his +bosom refused to be comforted. Many times he wished he could return to +India, and reproached himself for having left: there, at least, there +was some one that cared for him; now, where was he? Out on the sea, +without a friend; and, perhaps, in the distant land to which he was +going he might find himself friendless still. Friendless! the thought +bowed him very low: but God knew the storm that was beating upon the +heart of the returning wanderer, and the powerful hand of Omnipotence +tempered the hurricane; for, like the distant sound of help, in the lull +of the tempest, the words came suddenly into his mind--"I will never +leave thee, nor forsake thee." + +"Ah!" said Hubert, starting, and pointing upwards as he spoke, "Gracious +God, I have a friend in Thee;" then, clasping his hands together, he +prayed an earnest prayer that God would pardon the sin of his murmuring, +help him to overcome the evil nature in his heart, and make him more +holy. + +Hubert's peace of mind returned as soon as he had poured out his grief +in prayer, and Ben the sailor told his shipmates that they need not +fear now, for his honour had taken a turn, and was quite cheerful-like. +The evening of another day was closing, and Hubert came upon deck, +amongst the other passengers, to take a last look of the land where the +best years of his life had been passed, and where nearly all the +remembered associations of his existence were centred. + +The home of his boyhood, in that lovely English valley, had come before +him in memory's brightest colours, as he lay sick and wounded in the +hospital; and he thought of it too when he set out for England, but he +could remember nothing at all of it, as he stood by the side of the +vessel, looking back upon his manhood's home--the field of his fame. It +was true that he had there strayed further from the right path, and sunk +deeper into sin; that, if India had been the scene of his fame, it had +also been the scene of his guilt; but then his heart whispered that it +was there too he had mourned and repented, and if a deep sigh escaped +his bosom, as he watched the last shadow of his Indian home fade from +his view, it was because he was leaving it for ever. + +Long after the last look had been taken, Hubert sat still upon deck, and +was roused from his thoughtfulness by the words-- + +"Will you accept my arm, Captain, to your cabin? it is getting late." + +"Thank you, I had forgotten, I see it is late; I can manage pretty well +with my crutch. But no, since you kindly offer me your arm, I will +accept it." + +"Yes, do, Captain, the vessel is not over steady." + +When Hubert reached his cabin, he turned his head to thank his friend, +and then he saw that he was a man many years older than himself, with a +clear open countenance and with hair deeply tinged with grey. + +"You are welcome," said the stranger, "and I hope we shall become better +acquainted, for we have a long voyage before us, which I, like you, +appear to be making alone, and pleasant society will render it +cheerful--good night." + +"Good night," replied Hubert; "I hope it will be as you say," and, +grasping his hand, he again said, "Good night." + +They were now far out at sea; the high lands of India had sunk below +the horizon; Ceylon, with its spicy perfumes, was passed; and Adam's +Peak, the high towering sentinel of that wonderful island, had sunk also +beneath the wave. Hubert enjoyed the sea; his health and spirits +returned, and the time passed much more pleasantly than he had +anticipated; he found his new friend a most agreeable companion, kind +and considerate towards him, and, having been a great traveller, he was +ever ready and willing to amuse Hubert, not only with accounts of the +countries to which he had travelled, but also of England, which country +he had left only five years before: he had been a wanderer all his +life--he was born upon the sea, in his father's vessel, and being early +deprived of his mother, he and his brother became the companions of all +their father's voyages. Born, as it were, to a wandering life, a life +which in after years they were in no way fitted to give up, his brother +succeeded to the command of his father's ship, while he roamed to nearly +every part of the world, and gave to society many valuable volumes of +information on different parts of the earth and its people. + +Hubert always listened with pleasure to the conversation of his friend; +still there was ever a wish in his mind that the subject would change: +he longed to hear him talk of higher things than those of earth, for +never once, in all he said, did he make reference to the God of +heaven--it seemed to be the god of this world that he worshipped; and +Hubert sighed, as he thought that he had not proved the true friend he +had hoped to find in him. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +HOMEWARD BOUND. + + Back to the world we faithless turn'd, + And far along the wild, + With labour lost and sorrow earn'd, + Our steps have been beguiled.--KEBLE. + + +The Sundays on board the _Arctic_ were spent as the doctor had led +Hubert to expect; and happy, holy days they were--no one enjoyed them +more than Hubert, and on more than one occasion he spoke of them to his +friend. His remarks, however, were never responded to heartily, and +Hubert felt annoyed that he had formed a friendship with a man who +seemed to have no interest in the chief of all his enjoyments. "It may +be," said Hubert one day, as he sat alone in his cabin--"it may be +because he has never been struck down as I have been; or it may be--Ah! +what may it be?" Then he fell into a deep reverie, and wondered many +things as to the cause of his friend's indifference to sacred things; +and he prayed for a beam of light into the heart which appeared to him +to be darkened. Hubert felt a growing anxiety about his friend--he knew +they could not be companions very long; the journey, long as it yet was, +was daily growing shorter, and he did not feel certain that he would not +be in some way responsible if he allowed the present opportunity to +pass. + +Some timid Christians are frightened into silence by the mere worldly +boldness of those amongst whom they dwell, but it was not so with +Hubert. His companion was a quiet, unobtrusive man, as amiable and kind +as it was possible to be; and yet Hubert had not boldness sufficient to +tell him that the Bible was the theme he loved best, and heaven the +chief place of his interest. And why was it? In that stranger there was +education, refined taste and eloquence, united to the pursuits of a +lifetime; and whatever resolution Hubert made when alone, he always +failed to accomplish it when he came and sat down by his side. Sometimes +the subject was upon Hubert's lips, and many times his hand was in his +coat-pocket, in which the torn Bible lay; but then he feared to produce +it, lest his friend, who seemed to know the human heart so well, should +reproach him for having taken up religion in his infirmity, when he had +devoted his health and strength to dissipation and pleasure. It grieved +him very much, for it made him ill at ease with himself: his Bible was +his chief companion, it is true, and there was nothing that he loved so +well. Sometimes he wondered at himself for taking such delight in it, +and, acting upon the advice of his old friend the doctor, "to try and +examine all the thoughts and intentions of the heart," he imposed upon +himself many a search to find out, if possible, why it was that the +pages of that torn book gave him such delight--why at times his tears +would fall as he read it--and why sometimes his bosom would swell, and +his heart beat, at the story it told him; but he could not find out how +it was, he only knew that he loved it, and wanted others to love it too. + +The ship made a rather quick run to the Cape, where she stayed a +fortnight; and Hubert so much improved in strength, that he laid aside +his crutch, and walked easily with two walking-sticks. With his +returning strength his spirit and face grew more cheerful, and he began +to feel a hankering for his home in England; it became a favourite +thought, and after that a frequent topic of conversation. + +"I have only one desire," he would sometimes say, "and that is, that +those I left behind so many years ago may be alive to welcome me home." + +"You can hardly expect it," said his friend on one occasion, as they sat +together on deck. "A great many changes occur in the space of a quarter +of a century, and it is generally those we love best who are taken the +first away from us." + +"Perhaps to draw our thoughts to heaven," said Hubert. + +"Perhaps so," replied his friend; "but suppose it does not do it, and +instead of our becoming very resigned and heavenly-minded we become +reckless and desperate, and think of any place but heaven,--what then?" + +"I don't know," said Hubert, "except that the man who could feel what +you say must be one who has forgotten to worship God, and so when +trouble comes upon him he hasn't God to help him to bear it." + +The stranger looked earnestly into Hubert's face; there might have been +a home-thrust in that remark, for, heaving a deep sigh, he said, "I hope +you have never known what it is to lose a friend very, very dear to you, +and I hope you never will--yours is a beautiful delusion. I had it once, +but I haven't it now, and I hope circumstances may never rob you of it." + +"I hope not. But, my friend," said Hubert, laying his hand upon his arm, +"I _have_ lost one very, _very_ dear to me, all I ever loved, and it is +the beautiful delusion you name that has helped me to bear it; nay, it +is not a delusion, it is a high hope--a hope that when this life is +ended, and all who are dear to us have been taken away, we shall meet +once again in heaven, to live together for ever." + +Hubert's face had become animated while he spoke, and in his warmth he +put his hand into his pocket, intending to bring out his Bible; but his +friend checked him by saying, "What a strange, powerful influence the +things we learn in our youth have over our lives! A holy precept +instilled into us when we are lads, is a diamond set in an imperishable +casket; and though the dust of careless, sceptical manhood may +oftentimes cover over the gem, still it is there as bright as ever, +ready to shine with its former lustre when the heart, trusting and +believing, instead of doubting, fans off the black shadow of unbelief; +surely it is then that God's Spirit breathes once again into man the +breath of life." + +"How I wish I could talk as you do!" said Hubert; "then I would tell you +what I feel. But when I want to speak, I seem to feel so much that I +have no words to express myself, and so I say but little. How is it, +though, that you speak so of God? I thought you were unbelieving." + +"And what have I said to make you think that I believe now?" + +"You must," said Hubert, "else you would not speak so of the Spirit of +God. When I spoke of God, you called it a delusion, and I said nothing +like what you have said. You surely are not a sceptic? you must +believe." + +"I may believe some things, but not all that you do; for it has been an +easy matter to forget all about the one true God in a country where so +many gods are worshipped." + +"Did you forget, with all your learning and eloquence? Did _you_ +forget?" + +"Yes; didn't you?" + +"Oh yes, I did; I dare not tell you what I did, neither can I tell you +what I have suffered, nor how good and gracious God has been to me. For +more than twenty years I chose to live regardless of a future +life--indeed, regardless of anything but sin. I always tremble when I +think how I have lived, and yet see how gracious God has been to me; and +though you, too, forget to serve Him, He has not forgotten to be +gracious and merciful to you." + +The stranger sat still, in a careless attitude, with his broad-brimmed +straw hat shading his face, and his hands thrust into the pockets of his +loose coat. He spoke nothing in answer to Hubert's remarks, and Hubert, +after maintaining the silence for some time, rose from his seat and went +to his cabin. Ben, the sailor, had opened the cabin window, against +which the rippling of the calm sea occasionally threw a tiny crystal, +and as Hubert entered, and saw Ben standing before the window, he +said-- + +"Are you afraid the water will be in, Ben?" + +"Oh no, your honour," said the sailor, touching the little bit of hair +upon his forehead, "we're more than four feet above water at this +window; but I was a-thinking, your honour, of the storm on the Sea of +Galilee, and how our Saviour caused a great calm: it was a wonderful +thing, and I dare say it made a good many believe on Him as didn't +believe before. St. Mark says there was also some little ships besides +the one Christ was in, and I dare say there was a good many in those +ships as didn't believe Him at all; but it just wanted that great +tempest to frighten 'em and make 'em believe." + +"It might, indeed," replied Hubert, into whose heart a new light had +suddenly shone, "for God, who knows all hearts, knew what was in +theirs." + +"True, your honour, and it's the same now; many men won't believe the +Gospel until they are like, as it were, in the tempest, obliged to be +struck down with illness, or such-like, I mean." + +With the concluding words the sailor left the cabin, and Hubert sat down +to read all about that storm on the Sea of Galilee; he had read it +before, but never with such an interest as now, and it reminded him of +the tempest that had once come upon him; and he saw a deep truth in the +sailor's remark, that it is the storm that drives the sinner to Christ. +Then he sat and wondered what he must do to try and convince his +stranger friend of these things, and the prayer was almost upon his lips +that some terrible tempest might overwhelm him, if it would bring him to +the footstool of Jesus. + +That night, as though in answer to his heart's desire, Hubert dreamt +that his friend was "a vessel meet for the Master's use," and in a +joyous burst of feeling he awoke. + +"I know it, I am sure of it," he said to himself "he is a believer; a +backslider, perhaps, but not a sceptic." And he longed for the daylight +to come, that he might again seek his friend; and as he lay awake during +the remainder of the night, he tried to throw many of the incidents of +his own life round that of the stranger. He would give anything almost +to hear something more of his history; what he had told him was not +enough, and Hubert hoped for a closer and firmer friendship. A kindred +wish seemed to have passed nearly at the same time through the mind of +the stranger, for he had retired to rest with the hope that he might get +to know something more of Hubert; and the next morning, when they met on +deck, there was a cordial greeting, and they went and sat down on the +seat they had occupied the day before. There were several passengers on +board the ship, but Hubert and the stranger were exclusive in their +friendship, so that when together they met with no interruption; and +this time, as they talked of various things, with the wide-spread ocean +around them, Hubert, after a pause, said-- + +"Did you ever read the story of Jesus Christ stilling the tempest on the +Sea of Galilee?" + +"Yes, many times; why?" + +Then Hubert repeated what Ben the sailor had said; told, too, from whose +honest heart the ideas came; and his bosom felt a thrill of pleasure at +the earnest attention the stranger gave him. + +"Well done, Ben," burst suddenly from his lips, "Why, Captain Goodwin, +he's a clear-headed fellow. It's astonishing what remarkably good +notions those sailors sometimes have." + +Then he returned to Hubert's subject, painted in rich imagery the silent +lake, the little vessels, and the sleeping Saviour; then the tempest, +the alarm, the cry, "Save, or we perish," and the Omnipotent, "Peace, be +still." He knew all about it; he likened the silent lake to man's heart +in boasted security; the little vessels to the many sins of his +indulgence; the sleeping Saviour, to conscience hushed by sin; the +tempest, to man awakening; the alarm, to man seeking pardon; the cry, to +man's heart broken in despair; and the "Peace, be still," the voice of a +reconciled God, the sign-manual of forgiveness. + +Hubert had never heard anything that told upon his heart with stronger +power. Tears were in his eyes, and, drawing a long breath, he said-- + +"How could you make me think that there was anything that you did not +believe in reference to God, when you know so much, and can explain so +beautifully? Oh, if I knew only half what you do--if I had but a little +of your power to express myself, what a Christian I would be." + +"You don't know," said the stranger, laying his hand upon Hubert's +raised arm. "The head may be full of knowledge, and the tongue fluent +in speech, and yet the heart may be cold. It has been said, that for a +speaker to move the hearts of his hearers, he must himself feel the +power of his subject. Now, in worldly matters it may be so, but I am +inclined to think that in religious matters it is not obliged to be. +There is in all things referring to man's soul a secret influence which +does not necessarily require the fire of man's heart to make it +effective. God's Spirit is alone sufficient to move the waters. +Eloquence, indeed! Oh, beware how you covet it. Where is there anything +finer than the testimony of Christ's divinity made by the _demon_ in the +synagogue at Capernaum--'What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of +Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the +Holy One of God.' Be assured that, after all, there is no sublimer +strain that reaches the ears of the Most High than the contrite 'Lord, +save, or we perish.'" + +There was much earnestness in the stranger's manner, and the last words +he uttered struck Hubert as a prayer coming up from the depths of that +heart which, in the stillness of the previous night, he had satisfied +himself was not sceptical, but backsliding. Hubert's curiosity was more +awakened, and just as he was about to ask his friend another question, +they were interrupted by the sailors coming to the part of the vessel +where they were seated, to attend to some portion of the rigging. +Hubert, taking his stick, walked away slowly to his cabin, but his +friend did not follow him, and he sat down in silence alone. How many +subjects, during the voyage, that stranger had given Hubert to think +about! and the time had passed so pleasantly that he had not missed, +quite so much as he had anticipated, the friends in India. Many new +lights had shone into his heart, and his mind had opened to more truths +by the companionship he had made, and he felt now as much delighted with +the friendship, as a short time before he had been disappointed; that +short prayer, so emphatically spoken, had touched a deep feeling of his +own heart, and he wondered whether the high order of intellect, the +learning and eloquence of his friend, had not proved to him a snare, in +the same way that the careless, reckless, self-will of his own nature +had been to him. + +"Great God!" he said, gazing upward, "guide the thoughts of my heart +aright, lest I argue that some of thy gifts are given to man to his +injury." + +How humble Hubert had become, how ready to resign his own will to that +of a higher! and many a prayer he breathed that day--for the evil +thought came continually up in his mind, that God's gifts were not +always for good. Do as he would, or think as he would, that same thought +was uppermost in his mind, and he felt that it was the evil one grasping +at the expiring hope of bringing him back to him again. Hubert's faith, +however, was growing stronger every day: he had learnt to feel that +without the guidance and protection of God he was a frail erring +creature, and it led him to be frequently a suppliant, and frequently a +receiver of heavenly strength. + +"Get thee behind me, Satan; every gift of God _is_ good and perfect, and +it is thou, thou false one, that pervertest them from the end for which +they are given;" and Hubert, as he ceased speaking, took out his "torn +Bible" to read: there was comfort there, and his heart became more +cheerful, his faith stronger, as he read upon a soiled torn page of +that precious book--"Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, +for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I +will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." + +It mattered not to whom, nor under what circumstances, such passages of +Scripture were written--they were as effective to Hubert as though they +had been penned for him alone; and he took them all to himself, and +became more trusting and more holy. Neither Jew nor Gentile made a stone +at which his feet were to stumble; as he opened his "torn Bible" and +read, so he believed: the promise or the threatening, as it stood there, +was what his heart received, and he believed now that God was near him, +helping him to overcome the tempter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +TRUE FRIENDSHIP. + + Then, potent with the spell of heaven, + Go, and thine erring brother gain; + Entice him home to be forgiven, + Till he, too, see his Saviour plain.--KEBLE. + + +Three weeks more passed away; the journey homeward was getting near its +end, for the weather had been fine, and except that, on account of a +death on board, the vessel stayed a day and a night at St. Helena, there +were no interruptions. It was a lovely morning; the wind was hushed, +there was scarcely a ripple upon the ocean, the vessel glided on without +breaking the stillness, and Hubert sat on deck with his friend, enjoying +the genial atmosphere of the temperate zone. + +"Captain Goodwin," said the traveller, "I think our journey together is +nearly ended." + +"Are you not going to England?" immediately inquired Hubert. + +"No--at least, not at present. In a few days we shall pass Portugal, and +I may say farewell to you off Lisbon. I have a little matter on hand +that takes me to that part: when I have finished it I hope to come to +England; and I hope to meet you some day again. I trust that what we +have seen of each other has not been unprofitable; something I have told +you may remain in your memory, for I have told you many things +concerning the ways of men in nearly every country that I have been to. +Your knowledge has been confined to India, which country I have +traversed almost from one end to the other; and yet I have learnt very +much from you; and, now that we are about to part, I will tell you how. +It may be that, mixing so much amongst Indian idolatry, or, indeed, I +hardly know what has been the cause--but of late years I have grown +careless of the pure faith of my childhood, and have rather liked than +otherwise anything that tended to increase a disbelief in God and a +future life. Once let the thought that there is no future fix itself in +the mind of a man, and a thousand other thoughts, more wicked than the +first, follow, and there is little difficulty in disbelieving +altogether; for it is the belief that there _is_ a future that +constitutes the key-stone in religion. Well, I had become sceptical; +and, Goodwin, you perhaps little thought it, but it was you with your +Bible, and all its precepts so exemplified in your conduct, that struck +me, and made me look into my own heart to find how it was that you +appeared so much more happy and contented than I was. I have often +watched you; and your silent and, as you thought, unseen study of your +Bible had a powerful effect upon me, and did more for me than any noisy +demonstration would have done. When I first met with you I was in a +state of mind to have laughed at you, if you had come and talked about +conversion and grace, and prated off a host of Scripture texts. I had +too long forsaken religion to be frightened back to it; and that is the +mistake many good people make in their endeavours to bring back God's +wandering children. When I saw you so consistent and so earnest in your +religious duties, I know this, that I longed to be like you, and that +longing led me to think of what I had once been, and by degrees things +have changed with me. I have wanted to tell you this before, but have +always been afraid to trust myself; it is because our journey is so +nearly ended that I tell you now. And look here, Goodwin, when I have +done what I have to do in Portugal I will come to England, where I shall +hope to meet you; and by God's blessing, since there is no secret +between us now, we will talk this matter over again. It may be a year +before I come, perhaps longer; but remember, if I am spared, I _will_ +come, for I shall never forget you." + +"Neither shall I you," said Hubert, grasping his hand; but his heart was +full, and for some minutes he said no more. At length he continued, "Oh, +I am sorry to part with you; I have often wished that some of our time +could be spent in reading God's word, and talking of His mercy to us +both; the want of our doing so has made me at times sadly miss two +friends I left in India; still, I have much enjoyed your society, and +have learnt very much from you; for though our conversation has for the +most part been upon secular things, you have given me very much to think +about, and I thank God that I met with you. When I reach home," and +Hubert sighed, "I should like to write to you; and if you will tell me +where a letter will find you I will do so. I shall take up my quarters +in the north of England." + +The traveller gave Hubert an address which he said would find him, at +least for the next three months, and then he added-- + +"The north of England! Ah! I well remember an incident that occurred +once as I passed through it on my way from Edinburgh to London. I have +never been in that part since, and, as near as I can recollect, it is +about four-and-twenty years ago. I was fifty-four years old yesterday, +and I was thinking that I passed my thirtieth birthday on the top of +that stage-coach. Well, we were some distance north of York--I have +forgotten the name of the place, but it was a charming little +village--and at the top of a shady lane, at the garden gate of a pretty +house, there were several people waiting to bid a young soldier +good-bye. Young, indeed! he was only a lad, just fifteen, a +fine-hearted, sprightly young fellow, and he was going off to India. +Well, he took his seat amongst the passengers, called out good-bye, and +off he went. I sat beside the coachman, and as I glanced round at him, I +felt sorry for the boy, for, though he appeared cheerful enough, I had +an idea that his cheerfulness was a little forced: the passengers began +to talk with him, and he really was a fine fellow. I never shall forget +him--the very type of a handsome English youth. Excuse me, I was +forgetting myself; it's but a simple story, after all: we can find +something better to talk about." + +"Oh, no, pray finish it; I am interested in your story. What became of +the young soldier?" + +"Well, it was rather curious that I was going south on purpose to bid my +brother good-bye, and I found that this young soldier was going to India +in my brother's ship." + +"That was curious enough," said Hubert. + +"It was; and when we alighted, after a long and tedious journey, in +London, we went off to the ship together. How very often I have thought +of that lad! He had evidently been well cared for by good religious +parents, but perhaps from his school training, or I cannot tell what, he +was certainly forgetting the instructions they had given him. Oh, how +thoughtless and reckless he was! I watched him, for he had told us a +little of his history; and as I was leaving the ship, I ventured to give +him a word of advice, and tried to persuade him never to forget his +duty to his parents: but I cannot tell you more about him. Poor lad! I +never saw him again, nor ever heard of him after he reached India. I +fear he died, for, soon after his regiment landed, many of the soldiers +died of fever, and from what I can remember, I saw amongst the deaths in +an Indian paper a soldier of his name; so, never hearing anything more +of him, I concluded the poor fellow had succumbed to the climate." + +"Why were you so anxious to hear something more of that lad in +particular?" inquired Hubert. + +"Ah! were I to tell you it would be a long story. I don't know, though, +that I need tell all. I think I once told you some of my early history. +Well, I married at an early age, and three years after my marriage I +buried my wife: the sorrow, however, was greatly alleviated by a little +son I had--he was two years old when his mother died, and just able to +dissipate my grief by his innocent prattle. Years passed away: wherever +I went I took my boy. I travelled through Germany and Prussia with him, +and it has often occurred to me that the many people who have been +charmed by the works that these travels helped to produce, little +thought under what circumstances they were accomplished. Many a long +journey, where conveyances could not go, have I taken, with my staff in +hand, a little satchel at my side, and that boy on my back. At other +times he has trotted by my side; and very often--most nights, +indeed--with him sleeping in my arms, or seated beside his bed, I have +penned most of my daily wanderings, for I never left him. For eight +years after his mother died I never allowed him to go from my sight; but +then he left me for ever." + +"Not for ever," said Hubert; "you mean, he died? Well, you will go to +him, though he will not return to you." + +"Why do you say so?" + +"Because I believe it, and so do you." + +"Yes, I do: but now, tell me how it is that I cannot always think so. I +believe it all as well as you do, and yet, when I sit alone and think, +my thoughts are not the same as when we sit and talk together--how is +it?" + +There was an earnestness in the stranger's manner, and also in his eye, +as he put this question to Hubert, who, after sitting unmoved for a +minute or two, at last said-- + +"I have felt the same many, many times; indeed, there is scarcely a +truth in the Bible that I have read, which, though I believed it at one +time, I have been led to doubt it another. Many a time have I gone out +into the court-yard of my quarters in India, that I might see some fresh +object, because upon everything in my room there seemed to stand out in +large gilded letters the word 'Unbelief.' Turn where I would sometimes, +the very objects and things I wished to forget were always before my +eyes; indeed, blasphemy has been upon my tongue when my heart has +dictated prayers. Terrible hours they have been to me. And sometimes the +falling of a piece of paper, the opening of a door, or the smallest +possible sound you could conceive, has so alarmed me that I have +actually been afraid of myself. No one but myself can know what I +endured. But I don't feel anything of the sort now. _Prayer_ was the +effectual remedy for me, and it will be so for you. I believe that such +doubts and fears are extra mercies sent by God to bring us nearer to +Him; so, when you feel anything of the kind, try what prayer will do. +There is a great deal of seeming prayer that isn't prayer; but when the +heart can feel itself going out upwards,--I mean, when it utters the +words, 'Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief,' depend upon it, that +upon the other side of that petition, written in words of fire, is the +command to the tempter, 'Get thee behind me, Satan!'" + +The stranger sighed, but then, thrusting his hands deeply into his coat +pockets, as was his usual custom when in a thoughtful mood, he sat still +looking over upon the broad blue sea. Hubert sat still beside him, and +as the sailors moved about attending to their various duties, they gave +many a glance at the two friends as they sat together. Ben had told them +all something about these friends, and, though they were not all of the +same way of thinking as Ben was, they imbibed from him an extra amount +of respect for the Captain and the stranger; and had the part of the +deck where they were accustomed to sit been a sacred part, it could not +have been more free from intrusion than it was when they were there; so +Hubert sat and thought; so did his friend, who was the first to speak. + +"Yes, it is so," he said; "I know it is all true; I shall go to _them_. +And now let me finish my story. I had returned from the Continent, and +it was in Scotland that I buried my son; he lies beside his mother in +the kirk-yard at Dunkeld; it is a pretty, quiet place, at the foot of +the Grampian mountains, and there they lie--I hope to be buried there +too some day. I did not think at one time that I should have lived thus +long after them, but time has fled on, and it has worked its change in +me. I remember that it was on my first journey after my loss that that +lad rode with us to London. I shall never forget how startled I was when +I first saw him: older, of course, he was, but such an exact resemblance +did he bear to the one I had lost, that--it may have been a +delusion--some of my affection for the dead seemed to centre in him." + +"What was his name?" inquired Hubert. + +"I cannot tell now, I had forgotten it long ago; indeed, I had forgotten +the incident until you brought it back to my memory, it happened so long +ago." + +"I wonder you forgot his name, though," said Hubert; "but time works +upon the memory, and makes it less retentive." + +"True; especially one that has been tried like mine has. I am not an old +man--I am only a little over fifty, yet see how grey I am. I attribute +it to my memory being overtasked." + +"And to early and deep sorrow, perhaps," replied Hubert. + +"Well, the philosophy of that I neither argue nor dispute: what do you +say to it?" + +Hubert smiled, and, taking from his pocket his "torn Bible," he said, +"Here we have a high authority for the fact that suffering purifies the +heart. Now, whatever effect it may have upon the outward appearance, it +most certainly leaves its impress within--leaves many a deep scar upon +the heart: and we know that it leaves furrows on the brow; yet what a +blessing suffering is!--it is often the last effort that God makes to +reclaim the reckless sinner. When all other efforts have failed, and +nothing seems effectual in bringing down man's proud heart, the Almighty +smites that He may bless. I know it, for I have experienced it all; I +have felt both the scourge and the blessing." + +Hubert added this latter part because he feared lest his friend should +think him presumptuous; but the stranger added, "Captain Goodwin, I am +sure you must have felt a good deal of what you have often talked about, +and I would give much to be always as thoroughly settled in these +matters as you are. What you say, I feel to be all perfectly true. +Here," he said, placing his hand upon his heart, "it is all right But +here," and he touched his forehead, "there are other thoughts. But if +God spare me, I will come to you again when my business in Portugal is +done, and then we will talk over these matters more fully. The world has +been a wide one to me, but I have only a few friends in it, and am tired +of rambling about it, so I shall return to England and come near to +you." + +"Do," said Hubert; "and may God spare you, and me too. I shall be glad +indeed to see you; the heart grows better by communion, and I think +somehow that there is many a kindred feeling between us; at any rate, +our voyage has been rendered pleasant by our having met, and it will be +a source of pleasure to me, in many a sad hour that I feel will yet +befall me, to look forward to our meeting again." + +This, and much more, formed the matter for conversation between Hubert +and his friend; and when the day had closed, and night drew on, they +passed an hour together by Hubert's lamp; for the heart which had +unburdened itself seemed to have twined its tendrils more firmly round +the wounded soldier. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE WANDERER'S RETURN. + + Lead, kindly light, amid the evening gloom, + Lead thou me on! + The night is dark, and I am far from home; + Lead thou me on!--KEBLE. + + +Nearer and nearer drew the vessel homeward. Hubert and his friend had +that morning kept below; there was a little luggage on a table upon the +deck, and two or three people were standing near it; some of the sailors +were evidently busy about one of the boats, but a casual observer could +not have perceived that anything unusual was going on. Many, nearly all +in the vessel, were gladdening their eyes with the first glimpse they +were having of Europe; and as the coast of Portugal became more +distinct, many hearts burst out with joy, for they were nearing home. + +Hubert and his friend at length came on deck: Lisbon, with its noble bay +and high lands, could be seen in the distance, and the boat was lowered +to convey the passengers to the small vessel that would take them up +the river to the town. "Farewell!" it was the last word from Hubert's +lips that sounded upon the traveller's ears as he was wafted over the +billows that rolled upon the shores of Portugal; "Farewell!" echoed back +upon the air, and Hubert, drawing a deep sigh, began already to feel +lonely: he had made no other friend in the ship, and he returned to his +cabin; he sat down, and began to think over the conversations he had had +with his friend, and he wondered again and again whether he himself was +not indeed that once reckless boy, who in years gone by had won the +sympathies of the noble heart which had now won his. So many incidents +in that short narrative had a counterpart in his memory, that at last +nothing could persuade him but that it all referred to himself; then how +sorry he felt that he had not told his friend more about himself; and, +less at ease than he had felt for many months, he closed the door of his +cabin, and buried his face in his hands. + +Poor Hubert! His heart was growing as tender as it was once hard, and +recent sickness had unfitted him to encounter, without emotion, the many +visions of that youth-time which now came so vividly before him. + +"God grant that I may find them living!" he said earnestly; but then his +memory brought back again some of the forebodings and inward whisperings +which had often, in bygone years, checked for a moment his reckless +course, and his heart told him again that his mother was no more. It +came like a deep sorrow to Hubert, like a mighty wave throwing back +every torrent upon which it rolled; but he had learnt how to contend +with grief, and soon the dim cabin lamp was lighted, and, as night grew +dark, he sat and read the much-treasured portion of his mother's Bible. +He gained comfort as he read page after page, and it may have been that +the lamp grew brighter; at any rate, Hubert's face wore a happier beam, +and when the sailor came into the cabin, he said, "Good evening, your +honour; glad to see your honour looking better and cheerful like." + +"Better, Ben! have I looked ill to-day?" + +"Not ill, exactly, your honour," said Ben, "but a little landsman-like, +just about the time the passengers for Portugal got adrift, when Mr. +Collinton, yer honour's friend, left." + +"Well, Ben, I was sorry to lose him; but how late it is! why, I have +been reading two hours." + +With the assistance of the sailor, Hubert retired to rest, but, just as +Ben was leaving the cabin, Hubert requested that he would reach him the +Bible that lay upon the table. + +"I have a better Bible than this, yer honour," said Ben, as he handed +the book; "I mean one that has it all in, not torn as this is; and, if +yer honour likes, I'll fetch it, though it's not to every one I'd lend +it." + +"Why do you offer to lend it to me, then?" + +"Because, yer honour, I'm sure you think a great deal of the Bible, and +it's a pity you haven't one with all in; this has been bad enough used, +at any rate, but some folks don't care how they destroy the Bible. I'm +glad it's got into yer honour's hands; but, if you'll accept the loan of +mine, I shall be proud to lend it to you; there's not a leaf out; it was +the last thing my poor mother ever gave me, and I have used it now over +twenty years." + +"Thank you, Ben, I do not wish it; mine is torn, I know, but it will do +for me. Thank you all the same. Good night." + +Hubert was glad when he found himself alone; he was in the habit of +talking with Ben, but the sailor's homely remarks were not quite +agreeable to him now. Poor untaught fellow! how nobly he appeared to +rise in that night's shadows; children of penury, perhaps, he and his +mother, yet how rich in affection! Hubert thought many times of that +sailor's Bible; like his own, it was a mother's gift, but it had _all_ +in, while his had been ruthlessly destroyed. Memory brought back many a +long-forgotten scene, when his hard heart strove to rise against the +silent admonitions which the sight of that book was ever wont to give; +and, as he grasped all that was left to him now, a deep and heartfelt +prayer from his penitent heart ascended to the throne of God. + +The vessel in which Hubert sailed had made a quick run to England, and, +in a few days after the passengers left for Portugal, Hubert landed upon +the shores of his native country; and never before had he felt so +lonely. He was home without a home; however, being still under orders +from the East India Company, he referred to his papers, and then +immediately proceeded to London. Lame, without friends, and amongst +strangers, Hubert longed to be making his way to his own native village, +but he was compelled to tarry some time in London; at length, however, +he received his discharge with a handsome pension, and was at liberty to +go where he pleased. + +Now Hubert felt undecided; he scarcely knew what to do. At one time he +thought of writing home, and telling them he was coming; but to whom +could he write? Then he thought of taking the coach at once home, but +another thought made him abandon that; for his heart was not yet +schooled to the task of facing those he had so cruelly injured. + +Hesitating what to do, another week passed by, and his conscience, at +length, so smote him for lingering, that after arranging about his +luggage, which was still at the custom-house, and which he preferred +should for the present remain there, he set out with one small trunk, +and commenced his journey northward. So many years had passed since +Hubert had come along the road by which he was returning, that he might +have been In a foreign land: he remembered nothing, but he thought the +country beautiful; and, when evening came on, he alighted from the +coach, and stayed for the night at a small town. The journey had been +rather too much for him: still he felt anxious to be getting on; so, +when the coach passed through the town on the following day, he +proceeded some distance further. Four days had passed. Hubert, by short +stages, was drawing near his home, and the nearer he came to it, the +more anxious and nervous grew his heart; he would have given much to +have known which of his family remained. Once, years ago, while in a +frenzied mood, when rage and passion overcame him, he was suddenly +called back to reason by a mystic shadow crossing his vision: it may +have been that a heated brain brought before his fierce eye that which +startled him; but the remembrance of that moment had seldom left him, +and he felt certain that his mother, at least, was missing in his +father's household. + +Another short journey had been made, and a candle was placed upon the +parlour table in the little village inn where Hubert, tired and weary, +intended staying for the night. Many of the villagers had seen him leave +the coach at the inn door; he was wrapped in a blue cloak, and walked +lame, resting upon a stick; his bearing, perhaps, or it may have been a +whisper, told them that he was a soldier, and there was a fair chance of +a good evening for the landlord of the King George. + +One by one the parlour received its guests, and more candles were +brought in; a log too--for it was the month of October--found its way to +the fire, and the landlord told his wife to see to the customers, for he +was going to join the company in the parlour. + +Hubert saw with some uneasiness the people coming in, and he would +gladly have retired to rest; but his coming was an event they were +unwilling to let pass unobserved, and they gathered round him with so +much kindness and sympathy, that Hubert felt constrained to stay with +them. + +The old arm-chair in the corner, which was sacred to two +purposes--namely, once a year, when they had beaten the bounds, the +vicar sat in it in the tent to partake of the roast beef, which was +bountifully provided for those good old observers of ancient customs; +and, once a year, when the village club was held the lord of the manor +occupied it again. Duly polished every week was that dark oak chair, and +not even the sage-looking cat attempted to usurp it. This evening, that +honoured seat was drawn up to the fire, a large cushion was placed in +it, and there the tired soldier rested. + +They saw he was lame, and one went and fetched a soft stool for his +wounded leg; then as they sat around him, with their honest sympathetic +hearts beating warmly towards the brave defenders of their country, what +could Hubert do but tell them of the battles won, and many incidents +that make up the soldier's life in India? He had much to tell, and they +listened eagerly to him till the hour grew late, and Hubert felt that a +soldier's heart still beat in his bosom, and the fire of his youth had +not died out. They felt it too, but their enthusiasm was tempered by the +constant reference that Hubert made to the God who had preserved him. +They parted for the night as the village clock struck eleven, and many +of them wondered, as they walked homeward, where he was going, and why +he was travelling alone--questions they had not yet ventured to ask; but +they promised each other before they parted that they would come again +to the inn on the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +HOME AT LAST. + + My father's house once more, + In its own moonlight beauty! yet around + Something amidst the dewy calm profound + Broods, never marked before. + + * * * * + + My soul grows faint with fear, + Even as if angel steps had mark'd the sod; + I tremble when I move--the voice of God + Is in the foliage here. + + +Hubert was not much refreshed when the morrow came; the weather had +changed during the night, and the rain fell heavily, and his wounded leg +was so painful that he determined upon not proceeding on his journey, +but requested permission to walk in the well-kept secluded garden at the +back of the house, if the rain cleared off. + +It was a dreary morning, but about noon the sun shone out, and Hubert, +leaning upon his staff, bent his steps to the snug little summer-house +in the garden. It was a quiet spot, and Hubert was glad to be there +alone. The storm was over, the few remaining autumn flowers were fading, +and the leaves were falling thickly from the trees, and Hubert, as he +looked upon the scene around him, drew a deep sigh, and taking from his +pocket his "torn Bible," began to read. + +Absorbed in what he was doing, he did not see a little boy approach the +summer-house, and it was not until a small spade fell accidentally from +the child's hand that he noticed him. + +"Ah! do you live here?" inquired Hubert + +"No, sir, but grandfather does, and he told me you were here." + +"Did he send you to me?" + +"No, sir, but he told me you had fought a great many battles, and I +wanted to see you because I am going to be a soldier--when I'm a man, I +mean." + +"How old are you now?" + +"I'm eight, sir; but, you know, I shall be older soon, and perhaps as +big as you are." + +"Perhaps so," said Hubert, with a smile; "and what's your name?" + +"Frank, sir--Frank Lyons--the same as father's and grandfather's; but +they are not soldiers, you know. I am going to be a soldier." And then, +fixing his eyes upon a medal which Hubert wore upon his breast, he +eagerly asked all about it. Hubert was amused at the little fellow, and +answered many an inquiry that he made, and as he was listening to +something Hubert was saying, all at once he caught sight of the "torn +Bible," and taking it in his hand, he said-- + +"Is this a Bible, sir? Oh, how it's torn! Did It get torn like this in +the battles?" + +"No, child; but," pointing to the hole in the cover, "it got that in the +last battle I was in." + +Frank looked for some time at the hole the bullet had made; then looking +up into Hubert's face, he said, thoughtfully-- + +"Sir, don't you think God was very good to take care of you in the +battles?" + +"He was, child; He has always been good to me." + +"Then why did you let any one be so wicked as to tear this Bible so?" + +Hubert kissed the boy's cheek: he could not answer the home-thrust, but +taking the Bible from his hand, said-- + +"Good bye, Frank; now run away home." + +The child went away as he was desired, but Hubert's heart reproached him +in a moment; he thought he had been harsh, so, bending forward, he +called the little fellow back. + +There was a tear in the boy's eye when he returned, and stood gazing up +again into Hubert's face, which convinced Hubert that he had +disappointed him; so, taking his little hand, he said-- + +"Frank, do you wish to ask me anything more?" + +"Yes, sir, I want to ask all about being a soldier." + +Hubert could not resist, nor refuse to listen to the inquiries of that +little heart. And there they sat--the once disobedient, sinning, +reckless son, and the little artless child. It relieved the older bosom +to talk of the past, and Hubert told into that little ear more than he +had told any one before. It was a strange sympathy; but the boy drew +closer to him, leant his little arms upon the veteran's knee as he gazed +earnestly into his face, while Hubert told him something of his own +youth-time, and about being a soldier. + +"Then you have been a soldier longer than I've been born," said Frank. +"How glad your mother will be to see you! I think I should run all the +way; I would not stop at all till I got home." + +"But could you run, Frank, if you were as lame as I am?" + +"No, sir, I could not; but then I would ride--I would never stop +anywhere until I got home." + +"But if you were in pain what would you do?" + +"Oh, I would not mind it at all; soldiers ought never to mind pain. When +Charley wheeled the big barrow over my feet I did not cry, though he +hurt me dreadfully, because I am going to be a soldier. But that is +grandfather calling me. Good bye, sir." + +In an instant the boy was gone; and Hubert, bending forward, looked out +along the side pathway down which he had run. He watched him until he +was out of sight, and then his thoughts turned upon himself. Why was he +contented in tarrying there? How was it that he felt no spirit to hurry +onward? He looked up at the sky; the clouds were breaking, and the sun +shone brightly. + +"Oh that I were at home," he uttered, "and all the past forgiven! How +can I face it?" But no good thought came into his mind to help him in +his difficulty; and he sat for some time gazing vacantly into the +garden. + +"Yes, little Frank," he suddenly exclaimed, "they will be glad to see +me; I'll not stay here." And taking his stick in his hand, he drew his +cloak around him, and went into the house. The good people were somewhat +unwilling to part with their visitor, but Hubert was determined to go; +and, as he parted with the kind people, they were astonished to see him +kiss little Frank, and then to hear him say-- + +"Good bye, Frank. I'm not going to stop any more till I get home. Learn +to read your Bible; and I hope you will make a good soldier." + +The old landlord felt honoured at the notice Hubert had taken of his +grandson, and as he removed his own little old black hat from his head, +he turned to the child, and said-- + +"Your bow, Franky; make a bow to his honour--it may be he's a general." + +General or not, it mattered but little to Frank, for, taking Hubert's +hand, he said-- + +"Good bye, sir; I _will_ try and be a good soldier." + +Many little incidents, besides the one here recorded, befell Hubert as +he journeyed homeward; and, though he was long upon the way, he might +have been longer, had not little Frank's words--"How glad your mother +will be to see you!"--so rung in his ears, that he felt compelled to go +on; and the next afternoon to that on which he left the village inn, his +heart began to beat as he thought he recognized some old places. Ah, +yes! there was the old white toll-gate--he knew it was just one mile +from his home; so here he alighted from the coach, and, leaving his +luggage with the man who kept the gate, he walked gently on his way. + +The day was closing, the labourers were returning from the field, and +Hubert looked earnestly into the face of many he met, to see if he could +recognize any of them. He did not in his heart quite wish to be known, +but the incentive to find some friend of other years was powerful, and +there was a slight hope for a familiar face; he, however, met no one +that he knew, so he turned aside into a shady lane. Hubert knew the +place well; often in his boyish days that lane had been his +play-place--it was his favourite haunt; and there now he sat down upon +the same old grey stone, round which so many memories of the past still +hovered. From that large stone seat nearly every house in the village +could be seen, and there in the valley it lay, in all the same calm +beauty in which it had often risen before his view as he lay down +beneath the sultry skies of India; there, too, was the cottage, with its +white walls, over which the ivy still roamed at will--the same garden, +not a path or tree seemed changed; there was the same white-painted +gate, near which his family stood when he said the last good bye to +them; everything, indeed, looked the same--there appeared no change, +save that which his heart led him to expect; and his coat felt tighter +than usual across his chest as he looked down from the hill upon his +early home. He knew the way well--he saw the narrow pathway that would +lead him out against the gate of his father's house, and yet he had not +courage to go there. + +Night drew on, and still Hubert sat upon the stone; many persons passed +him, and more than one gazed earnestly at him, for his dress was not +familiar to them; and he heard them whisper as they passed, "Who is he?" +A few, more curious than the others, returned to take another look at +him, but he was gone. "I am a coward," he had whispered to himself, and +in the closing shadow of the night had trodden the narrow pathway, and +reached the white gate of his home. The walk down the hill-side had +wearied him, and he stayed a moment to rest upon his staff before he +entered. He may have stayed longer than he intended, for an aged man, +leaning also upon a staff, startled him by saying-- + +"You appear tired, sir; pray, have you far to go?" + +"Not far; I hope to lodge in the village to-night. Does Mrs. Bird keep +the White Swan now?" + +"Mrs. Bird? Nay, she's in yonder churchyard; it's many a year since she +died. You may have been here before, but it must be long since." + +"Very long," said Hubert, with a sigh. "It is more than twenty years. +Since then I have been fighting in the wars in India. Sir, I am a +soldier." + +"A soldier!" said the old man. "Ah! and from India--come in and rest a +bit. From India, did you say? I once had a son there--come in, talk with +me, if only for an hour. It may be that I may hear something of my boy. +He went away nearly twenty-four years ago, and I never heard from him +afterwards. Sometimes I think he is dead, and then sometimes I don't. +The neighbours feel sure he is dead, but sometimes I have an idea that I +shall yet hear from him--I scarcely dare to hope it, though. Come, +soldier, don't stand here, the evening is cold: walk up to the house; my +little Richard will know where you can lodge for the night. He knows +every one in the village." + +Without uttering a single word, Hubert followed the old man. Richard saw +them coming, and, at his grandfather's bidding, drew another chair to +the fire for the stranger. + +The old man changed his shoes, and then, putting his feet upon a stool +before the fire, turned his face to Hubert, as he said-- + +"There was a time when the very name of a soldier was hateful to me, but +circumstances change one. I had a care for all my lads, but for that one +that went into the army I had the most care, and it was better, perhaps, +that he should be taken from me. For more than twenty years, though, I +refused to be comforted for his loss, but I now do feel that it was +God's will, for that boy was our eldest, and we thought a deal too much +of him until he rebelled against us. He often stood between us and our +Maker--I mean he had our first and best thoughts. It will not do, +soldier, for the heart to worship more than one, and that one must be +God. Our poor lad, God forgive him! paid us ill for our care--he was +ungrateful--he forgot us. Bitterly, indeed, we felt the truth of the +proverb, that 'sharper than a serpent's tooth is an unthankful child,'" +And the old man brushed away a tear; then, looking into the stranger's +face, he added, "Did you ever hear of a Hubert Goodwin in India?" + +"Hubert Goodwin?" repeated Hubert, with a husky voice. "Goodwin?--but +why should you think your son is dead, or that he has forgotten you? He +may have written, or something may have prevented him. His letters may +have been lost, or a thousand things happened, and he may have regretted +the silence as much as you have." + +"Is it possible," replied the old man, much excited, "that my poor lad +ever thought I had forgotten him?" and he bowed his whitened head. + +Before this little scene was half finished, the unworthiness of the part +he was playing smote Hubert's heart; he had never intended offering any +excuse for his past misconduct, and he felt so self-convicted at the +sight of the grief he had so unwittingly caused, that, raising up the +old man's head, he said, with deep emotion, "No, father! father, I had +forgotten--not you." + +"What, Hubert!" cried the old man, pushing him back, and wildly gazing +at him. "Hubert! my Hubert! No!" Then he laughed, and then, pointing +upward, he added: "Perhaps he's up in heaven with the others, poor lad. +I'll tell him there that I never forgot him: poor lad, he'll forgive me; +I never forgot him." + +While the old man was speaking, young Richard whispered something to +Hubert, who immediately moved behind his father's high-backed chair. + +"Grandfather, dear," said the boy, as he kissed his cheek, "why do you +cry?" + +"I don't know, boy. Oh, yes, just some thoughts of your uncle Hubert! +but--" and he stared about, "where is the soldier? where is he, Richard? +Was I dreaming? Was it Hubert?--has he returned?--where, where is he? +Fetch him, Richard." + +"I'm here, father;" and Hubert, as well as he was able, knelt before the +old man. + +"Oh, Hubert!" were the only words that were uttered, for the recognition +in one moment was complete; long, very long, the old man wept upon the +bosom of his son, and Hubert wept too; young Richard cried, perhaps +because his dear old grandfather did; but Martha, the faithful servant +of forty years, knew all the sorrows of her good old master--knew, too, +all about the wandering sheep that had come home. She remembered when he +was a little lamb in the fold, and she mingled the overflowings of her +heart with the others; then she went and closed all the casement +shutters, for they wished to have the joy of that first meeting to +themselves. The prodigal had indeed returned, but friends and neighbours +must not come and make merry yet--the fatted calf must not be killed +till to-morrow. + +No one intruded upon the scenes of Hubert's home on the evening of his +return. The joy of once again seeing him--the answer to so many +prayers--came as a new link in the chain of the old man's existence; he +would have no supplication, no confession from his erring son: it was +enough that the wanderer had returned; and it was _more_ than enough; +it was a joy that he had often prayed for, though his hope of knowing it +had long since died, that Hubert might become a child of God. Poor old +man! how tenderly and lovingly he strained his long-lost son to his +bosom! and the most severe reproofs, denied forgiveness, or the +bitterest reproaches, would not have been so hard for Hubert to endure +as the tender affection of his deeply-injured father. + +Night closed around, and the old man sat later by the fireside than he +had done for years, for much of life's vigour had returned with his +hopes and joy; he breathed the evening prayers with a deeper fervour; he +joined in the evening hymn with a voice less tremulous than the others, +and he walked without his staff to his bed. + +Poor bereaved heart! nearly all had been taken from him; none save the +little orphan grandson had been left for him to love; the waters of +affliction had rolled deeply over his head; but the heart, consecrated +to heaven, had learnt to bow meekly to the rod, and now the most bitter +cup of his life had been filled with joy. "Thy will be done," was the +old man's closing prayer, as he lay down upon his pillow that night, +and there was a holy calmness upon his brow, for peace and gratitude +filled his heart. + +Different, indeed, were the feelings Hubert endured; and, as he shut +himself in his bed-room--the bed-room of his boyhood--there was a deep +struggle in his heart. More vividly than ever came the sins of his past +life before him, and great indeed was the remorse he felt for the long +years of woe he had caused. How he longed to tell all his repentance to +his father! but the old man had forgiven him without: it would not, +however, wipe away the sin he had committed; and the remembrance was +like an inward fire--burning and burning continually. There was One, +however, who _would_ listen to his woe; and Hubert, on bended knee, +poured it out from his swelling heart; no eloquence, no effort was +needed; and as the hours of that night of deep repentance passed on, +Hubert drew nearer and nearer to his Father in heaven, and the chastened +heart became lightened; then he sank to sleep as calmly as his father +had done. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MEMORIES OF CHILDISH DAYS. + + I stand on the brink of a river, + The river of life to me, + Where the billows of memory quiver, + And rise and fall like the sea. + + I read in their tremulous motion + The records of many a year, + And like voices that come from the ocean + Are the muffled words I hear.--ANON. + + +A bright morning beamed upon Hubert as he awoke from his slumber in his +childhood's home. He looked round the room; somehow there were many +things in it that he could recollect. There was the dark oak chest, with +curious figures carved upon the front, which had often been a source of +terror to him in early days, because on one occasion he was told that +they were the likenesses of certain naughty boys, whose remains he +verily believed were within that black chest, and though for many years +he had forgotten all about it, the story, and the nurse who told it, +came all back fresh into his memory. Then there was the old-fashioned +furniture upon the bed. "Why!" and he looked at it again, "it is the +same, the very same that covered me when last I slept here." And that +large arm-chair behind the door, he knew _that_; he remembered that it +was taken up there when his grandfather died, and he also remembered +that it was where he always put his clothes when he went to bed. Many +other things there were that he remembered: very little, indeed, seemed +changed; and, as he looked round, his eyes lighted upon a stick, a bow, +and a kite, tied together, hanging on the wall. He arose from his bed, +and began to dress himself, scanning as he did so the various objects in +his room. Presently he saw a small picture over the mantel-shelf, and +went to look at it. He started back--it was intended for himself. +Whether it had been a good likeness he was not able to judge, but it +represented him as a young soldier just going from home, and beneath it +was written, "Our Hubert." It had been drawn from memory, and placed +there in remembrance of the lost one. Beneath it, on the mantel-shelf, +was a little box, and Hubert raised the lid. Something more! Yes, +something more. In that box lay a pair of slippers; they were little +ones--a child of eight years old might have worn them; and Hubert, as he +was just closing the lid, saw written inside it, "Our Hubert's." "Mine, +mine!" he said, as he took them out. "Not mine!" But then some flash of +memory lighted up the past, and he thought he could remember when they +were his. Over these little slippers the soldier sat down and wept; for +the truth had suddenly come to him, and he pictured his parents, +gathering up every little thing that he had owned, remembering all about +him, except that he had gone away and forgotten them; placing from the +heart upon canvas the features of the rebellious one, and loving him +fondly to the last. Perhaps over these little slippers they had shed +many a tear; since they had covered the little feet, those feet had gone +astray. What a dear relic they were of the past! how they reminded him +of a time when he was pure and innocent! And he said, as he brushed away +the tears from his cheeks-- + +"Oh! If I had only died then, I should have caused no sorrow, nor felt +any, but been in heaven with the angels." + +"Yes, Hubert, you would have caused sorrow," some spirit near him might +have whispered; "first-born of that dwelling, they could not spare thee. +He who gave thee as a blessing at the first, means thee to be a blessing +still." + +Hubert replaced the slippers, and went downstairs to meet his father. + +The old man was there first. Years had passed since he had risen so +early; but new life seemed to have been given to him; and, as he met his +long-lost son at the door, he forgot that he was no longer the little +child of his love; he forgot, too, all the sorrow he had been to him; +forgot the long years he had mourned him; and clasped him fondly to his +heart. + +"Hubert," said his father, "it is thirty-nine years this very day since +I received you, my first-born child; a second time you have been born to +me, and we shall do well to rejoice. Your mother, dear sainted one, I +would that she were here with us; but we will not wish her back--she is +happier in heaven, and we will not sorrow because she's gone; it would +seem like reproaching that good God who, in His mercy, has restored you +to me. Yes, boy, I know well that she bitterly wept your loss--your +absence, I mean; but she wept the death of other dear ones, and God took +her to them: we shall, I hope, join them soon. Heaven bless you!" + +It was a happy day, sanctified by a holy joy. Many friends, including +the good minister of the parish, who, thirty-nine years before, received +Hubert at the font, and prayed to Heaven to bless him, brought their +meed of welcome to the wanderer, and that faithful servant of his +heavenly Master spoke comfort to his aged fellow-pilgrim's heart. + +"Master Goodwin," he said, "I told you, years ago, that if ye pray and +do indeed believe, that ye shall receive--it shall be as ye ask; it is +the prayer without faith that wins no blessing. God does not give us all +we ask, because we are sinning creatures, and know not what we ask; but +then, how many of us pray for things that we never want! and if we had +only ourselves to judge what is best for us, instead of receiving a +blessing, we should often receive a curse. When the heart asks God to +teach it to pray, and then asks a blessing, believing that if it is +God's will that prayer will be granted, depend upon that, that prayer +_is_ answered; if the actual thing is not given, the heart receives +something in another way--at any rate, it _does_ get a blessing. How +many years you have prayed for that son, and how many times you +murmured, and thought God had forgotten! but He never forgets; He has +remembered all your grief, and answered, what prayer? Why, the prayer of +faith. If you look back you will find that it is only of late years that +you have borne your sorrows without murmuring; they have been heavy, we +know; yet, for how many years the gilding of your prayers was tarnished +by the breath of sorrowful repining? and perhaps it was when your heart +could really say 'Thy will be done,' that the cloud of your troubles +began to disperse, and the blessing was given. Oh that men would always +praise the Lord for His goodness! How well He knows all our need! He +knows when to smite and when to heal, and they who continue faithful +unto death, to them shall that mysterious Providence be more fully +revealed. If much sorrow has been your portion, so has much blessing. It +is better to have saints in heaven than rebellious children on earth: +and God has been very gracious to you." + +"He has, indeed," said Hubert's father. "I feel it more truly now." And +as he grasped the faithful pastor's hand, he said, "He gave you to this +parish as one of my blessings, and your prayers have perhaps helped to +restore me my son. Pray with us now, for our joy may be too great." + +They knelt: a deep and earnest prayer fell from the pastor's lips upon +the stillness of the hour, and the tear upon the cheek told its power on +the heart. The prayer was over, and the good man, bidding them adieu for +the present, left them to rejoice over the once lost one, while he, in +the spirit of his mission, withdrew himself from the world, and thanked +God for having brought back the wandering sheep. + +Hubert's return had filled his father with such joy that he would +scarcely tell him anything about the family, so anxious was he to hear +all about himself; and it was some time after his arrival before he +heard of all the bereavement of that household. All gone! all whom he +had left in the beauty and strength of youth, when he went out to India, +had been swept to the tomb; not one left round that desolate hearth, +except the little orphan Richard, now nine years old, the only child of +his second brother, who, with his young wife, had sunk into an early +grave. One by one the hand of death had taken them from the fireside, +and it was now his turn to mourn them. He saw plainly now how it was +that his father had received him so fondly. Poor old man! his home had +been sadly lonely; the household gods had been all broken, and his aged +heart nearly so. Hubert looked at his father as he told the history of +each one as they had departed, and conscience told him that there was +before him a braver warrior than he had ever seen before--one who had +fought a stern battle, and had ever been in the thickest of the fight. +Hubert's heart beat; he felt that he had added heavily to the burden and +heat of his father's day, and, falling upon his knee before his parent, +he cried, as his hands covered his face, "Oh, father, forgive me!" + +"Forgive you! Oh, Hubert, did I forget to say I had forgiven you long +ago? There is nothing now to forgive, but I bless you for coming home. +Let the past be the past. Bless you for coming home to me! God is good; +He gave, He has a right to take, but He has given you to me again." But +the truth seemed to shine upon the old man's mind, and putting his arm +round Hubert's neck, he said-- + +"Ah! well, it's all forgiven; you might have done other than you have +done, perhaps; but never mind;" and he wept tears of joy upon the bosom +of his son. This little rebuke from Hubert's father was more welcome +than the caresses he received, and Hubert opened his heart upon it, and +began to tell his father of things which had befallen him in India; +hitherto he had seldom spoken, except in answer to his father's many +questions, for there was a weight of remorse in his bosom which nothing +yet had removed; but now he was assured of his father's forgiveness, and +a smile lighted up his hitherto sad face, as they sat round the fire +telling many a story of his distant home; his father was delighted, and +young Richard drew his little chair beside his veteran uncle, to listen +also. Many a week passed by; Hubert had ever something to tell his +father, but of all the history of the past, or of all the fame he had +won, nothing was so dear to the old man's heart as the "torn Bible;" he +made Hubert tell again and again all about it, its long neglect, and its +abuse. The field of battle, the capture, and the rescue from the +Indians, and even the dreadful night in the jungle, when Hubert's +life-blood was draining from his wounds, were nothing compared with the +strong will broken, the heart subdued, and the torn, despised Bible +giving back a new and better life to the prodigal. Oh, how the old man +loved to dwell upon that! many prayers from the long since silent heart +had been answered then, and he ever repeated in Hubert's ear the words, +"Oh, yes, she knew all about it, for she was one of the angels in heaven +that rejoiced when you repented." + +Hubert grew happier in the society of his father; and though at times a +kind of reflection on his past life would cast a sort of thoughtful +sadness over his brow, yet his health daily improved, and his heart +became more and more attuned to the will of God. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +AT REST. + + Gales from heaven, if so He will, + Sweeter melodies can wake + On the lonely mountain rill + Than the meeting waters make. + Who hath the Father and the Son, + May be left, but not alone.--KEBLE. + + +Years rolled away. Hubert's history in the village became almost a thing +of the past; the young, who had paid a sort of homage to him for his +warrior fame, had almost forgotten it, and had grown up to reverence him +for his goodness; and the aged, as he sat by many a dying bed, blessed +him with their latest breath. Ever, day by day, did Hubert take his +staff and go forth to comfort some less favoured brother; and the "torn +Bible"--guide of his present life--accusing, yet dear relic of his past, +soothed many a departing spirit, and helped to ripen his own for +Eternity. + +Since Hubert's reunion with his father, he had found many new friends, +but he did not forget his old ones: to those in India he occasionally +wrote, and occasionally received letters; still, it was a source of +great regret to him that he did not hear anything of the companion of +his voyage, with whom he parted off Lisbon. While the first year after +his return home was passing, he scarcely thought anything of not hearing +from him; but the second year, and third, and now the fifth had come, +without tidings of his friend, and, with a pang of deep and silent +regret, he began to conclude that he had died; though notwithstanding +this thought, there was a lingering hope that his friend would yet come; +and it was sometimes when his heart felt sad, that the wish for his +friend became strong; perhaps upon the wish grew the hope; and then +Hubert would take his staff and wander up the hill-side, out to the +little white toll-gate, and then walk a mile or two down the broad road +that led to the south. There was a rude seat by the roadside, formed of +gnarled and moss-grown branches intermixed with stones; beside it was a +huge stone trough, which a kindly mountain stream kept ever filled with +water; over it, shading it from the sun, branched a stately oak; and +this spot was a resting-place for man and beast. Hubert often walked +there, sat down and rested beneath the tree, and looked with longing +eyes down the road; still his friend came not, and he as often returned +sadder than he went. How little he thought that his father had trodden +that same road with a heavy heart for many a year, in the fond hope of +meeting him, though there was but little probability in either instance +that the hope would be realized! one moment's reflection would have told +the heart so, but the heart under such circumstances seems unwilling to +reflect--or even if it does, the effect is transitory, and the heart +hopes on again against hope; and it is a blessed thing, this hope--for +how often in the dark hour it throws a ray of light upon the darkness +that is felt, and keeps a soul from despair! + +Hubert had been six years at home, and for many months had not been +along the road where he was wont to go; indeed, he had sighed over the +memory of his friend, and at last had ceased to expect him; but now an +unexpected joy had befallen him, for Mr. Collinton was coming. Hubert +was delighted, and he read the letter many times over; his father was +delighted too, for Hubert had confided to that parent, whom he now so +loved and honoured, all his secret about the stranger, and the old man +partook of the longing to see the friend, a portion of whose life had +been so strangely linked with that of his son. + +Hubert had often wondered how it was that the letter which he had +written to his friend, telling him of his safe arrival at home, had not +been answered; but it appeared that that letter had been duly received, +and that Mr. Collinton, acting upon its contents, was now, after a long +delay, making his way to Hulney. + +One morning, after rising somewhat earlier than usual, Hubert took his +staff, went up the hill-side, and took his way towards the seat by the +roadside. It was still early, yet Hubert appeared to be in haste; he +passed the white toll-gate, wished good morning to the man who kept it, +and stayed a moment to inquire what time the coach would pass by, and +then he went on his way again until he came to the seat by the roadside, +when he sat down and looked with an anxious eye for the coach coming. +Mr. Collinton had not told him the exact day that he would come, but +this was the last day of the week, and Hubert felt sure that it would +bring him, and he was not wrong. The coach, with its living burden, came +at last, and Hubert and his friend met again. + +"Leave the luggage at my house," said Hubert to the coachman, whom he +now well knew, and then he and his friend sat down beneath the shady +tree. How glad they were to meet again! and then Hubert soon told him +that he was none other than the soldier lad who in years gone by had won +his heart. The stranger listened with astonishment; gazed at him with a +deeper earnestness than ever, and tears rushed to his eyes as he grasped +his hands. And why did he feel so? There was nothing now in the face of +that war-worn soldier which reminded him of the dear one he had buried, +nothing now to make him feel, as he once said he had felt, that some of +his love for the dead seemed to centre in him; and yet he did love him, +and it was to find him again that he had given up the world, and taken +his way to that little northern village; for he had felt, ever since he +had parted with Hubert off Lisbon, all the emptiness of life without +pure religion. He had felt a void in his heart that nothing around him +could fill; and though he tarried longer upon the continent than he had +intended, he ever thought of Hubert; and as he told him, as they sat +together by the roadside, it was his memory and the hope of seeing him +again that had blessed his life, and made him long to join him, that +they might read and study God's Word. + +"Why have you been so long in coming?" asked Hubert. "I thought, at +most, your absence would be but one year; but when it was two, then +three, and now nearly six, I gave you up." + +"And thought me dead, perhaps?" + +"Yes, sometimes I thought it might be so, for I could not think you had +forgotten." + +"No, no, you are right there; I never could forget: but travelling in +Portugal and Spain, those countries full of such deep interest, I know I +tarried; but when I was uneasy here in my heart, and my thoughts would +turn nowhere but to you, I prepared to make my way to you. Sometimes an +opportunity lost threw off my plans; sometimes the desponding mood I +had fallen into was suddenly dispersed by some event; and so I wandered +up and down, amongst the many beauties and enchantments of Spain--not +forgetting you, my friend, but tempting Providence by deferring to come +to you. Oh! it was a sin, and I felt it; but I hadn't you there, nor any +one to say the words you might have said. And so I lingered; but I gave +in at last. I was not happy there; and it has struck me many a time that +there is many a man in this world whose life has been a continuous +fluctuation between right and wrong--knowing what was right, being +anxious to do what was right, and yet ever doing wrong: how is it?" + +"My friend," said Hubert, putting his hand upon the stranger's knee, +"the Bible says that the heart of man is inclined to do evil; and is it +not so? Still, there is that in man which makes him love to do good--do +right, I mean; and, as far as I can judge, man generally makes an effort +to do so. But here is the mistake: he too often has a false idea of what +_is_ right, and follows his own notions of right and wrong, rather than +the standard laid down in God's Word. His inclination to do evil makes +him too often try to make out that evil to be good; and so he goes on, +spending a whole life in error, while all the time he fancies he is +perfectly right. When a man's heart is not right with God, he must ever +be going wrong; but, somehow, we don't like to be told it--I know I did +not. Think of the years I spent in India in all kinds of sin, and all +the time I wished the world to think well of me, and tried to persuade +myself that I was perfectly right. But what a life it was! How many +things occurred to tell me that I was wrong! but I would not hear, and +continued a wicked course, trying to please man, and caring nothing +whatever about God. I was worse than the heathen." + +"How? you had the Bible with you in India." + +"I had," replied Hubert, "and therefore I was the more guilty and +responsible for the life I led there. I cannot look upon man without the +Bible as I do upon him with: it is the _only_ source from which we can +draw a perfect rule of life; and if man has it not, how can he know? +Whether he reads it or not is another matter: if he have it at all he is +responsible." + +"Ah!" said the stranger, "I shall do now; we can talk these matters +over together; somehow, I know all this, but yet I cannot get on with it +alone. How is your father? is he still living?" + +"Yes, and will be glad to see you; I have told him all we know of each +other, and he is waiting now for our coming; for, like myself, he +thought you would be here to-day." + +As Hubert finished speaking, he and his friend rose from his seat and +walked to the village; and as they walked along Hubert told him of the +devastation that Death had caused in his home, and begged him, as he was +the last of his family, to make his dwelling with them. + +It was a goodly welcome that met the stranger at Hubert's home; and +there was so much peace and happiness, sanctified by that religion which +he longed for, that he soon became as one of the family; and by paying a +yearly visit to the grave at Dunkeld, where he had buried his loved +ones, he lived for ten years with Hubert and his father; and when he +died, they mourned the loss of a Christian and a friend, and buried him +as he had wished in the grave of his wife and son. Five years more were +meted out to Hubert's father, and then they laid him with the dear ones +gone before, and carved a simple record upon the stone that covered the +grave where he and his wife lay. + +"They sleep in Jesus," was all that Hubert told the world of them, and +very soon the grass and flowers covered that fond testimony. + +Between Hubert and Dr. Martin, in India, a warm friendship continued for +many years; it ever cheered Hubert's heart to hear from his distant +friend, for he owed him much, and heard from him gladly; but one day, +after a longer silence than usual, there came a letter written by a +stranger's hand, bearing the unwelcome news that the good man was gone. +He had spent a long life of usefulness, and, in the land which had +always been the field of his labour, he lay down and died. It was not +his lot to hang up his weapons of warfare, and rest upon the laurels he +had won; his Master was the King of kings, in whose cause he spent all +his life. How could he rest? There was no reward on earth a sufficient +recompense for his labours; and though his body now rests in an unknown +distant tomb, yet, far away in the city of the great King, he has been +crowned with an immortal diadem. How many quiet unobtrusive Christians +there are, of whom the world knows nothing, who live to reclaim and +guide aright their weak and sinning brethren, and though they live and +appear to die unknown, they give to many a dying bed peace, when there +would be no peace; and they are often the ten--ay, the five--that save +the city. + +Hubert was sad at the news of his friend's death, but he knew where he +should meet him again, and not as he felt when he remembered the young +sinning companion of his youth, the never-forgotten Harris; with a +grateful thankful heart he could think of him in heaven, and hope to +meet him there. + +Once more let us turn to Hubert's home. Young Richard, dear good boy, +when he grew to manhood, married the playfellow of his childhood, the +orphan granddaughter of the village pastor, and they lived in the old +house with Hubert; and when, at last, the veteran's career was ended, +they followed him with many tears to the old churchyard, and Richard had +that seventh white stone carved to his memory. It is but a simple +unemblazoned record of one departed, yet travellers say it is a strange +device, that torn ill-used book, and ever and anon some one asks its +meaning. + +Our story is ended, and we would ask the reader to remember that +Hubert's life is not a fiction. And shouldst thou ever wander to that +old churchyard, sit down amidst its shadows, amongst its silent dead; +perchance a fitful vision of thine own life may flit past thee, some +whisper may re-echo a mother's prayer or a father's counsel, and it may +not be altogether unprofitable to thee to remember the history of Hubert +and + + "THE TORN BIBLE." + + + + + PRINTED BY + WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, + LONDON AND BECCLES. + + + + + A Selected List + of + New and Recent Publications + from + Messrs. Frederick Warne & Co.'s + Catalogue. + + + NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR BOYS. + +The Orchid Seekers. A Story of Adventure in Borneo. By Ashmore +Russan and Fredk. Boyle. With Sixteen Original Illustrations by Alfred +Pearse and M.F. Hartley. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled +boards, price 5s. + +"Boys will be grateful to the joint authors.... No reader can complain +of lack of interest or sensation in the narrative...."--_Daily +Telegraph._ + +"A capital story of adventure, such as would delight most boys, and +gratify many of their elders.... Written with great spirit. The +authors are to be congratulated on producing a story full of thrilling +incident without violating probabilities."--_Saturday Review._ + + +The Riders; or, Through Forest and Savannah with the "Red Cockades." +By Ashmore Russan and Fredk. Boyle. With Twenty-six Original +Illustrations by Alfred Pearse. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, +bevelled boards, price 5s. + +"Most daring and attractive story of travel, peril, and adventure. The +book is of higher literary class than many of its rivals, and as a +present for a youth of mature age cannot well be beaten."--_Daily +Telegraph._ + + +Young Tom Bowling. A Story of the Boys of the British Navy. By J.C. +Hutcheson. Fully Illustrated by J.B. Greene. In large crown 8vo, cloth +gilt, bevelled boards, price 5s. + +"It is a spirited and adventurous tale about several brave boys of the +British Navy, who, besides getting through a multitude of monkey tricks +aboard a man-of-war, see some 'sarvice' in administering to the Arab +slave-traders that correction which these inhuman monsters so richly +deserve. The book has a number of excellent pictures."--_Scotsman._ + +"As a sea-yarn, with plenty of rollicking fun, exciting adventure, and +play of varied character, it should commend itself to all boy-readers. +Mr. Hutcheson has skilfully contrived to give as a background to the +story a very true and vivid and convincing description of the duties, +occupations, and routine work of the boys of the British Navy, and it is +this element in the book which gives it an importance beyond that of a +mere story of adventure."--_Daily Mail._ + + _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_ + + + + + NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR BOYS. + +The Boys of Fairmead. By M.C. Rowsell. With Original Illustrations +by Chris Hammond. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bev. boards, price +3s. 6d. + +"It is always a pleasure to take up a book by Miss Rowsell, whether she +writes for juveniles or adults, whether her pen be employed in history, +biography, or fiction, she invariably shows the cultured mind and the +polished diction of the writer, thinker and gentlewoman. This book has +adventure, and it has to a marked degree humour. Essentially a book for +boys, their elders will read it with pleasure."--_Public Opinion._ + + +The Fortunes of Claude. By Edgar Pickering. Illustrated by Lancelot +Speed. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, price 3s. 6d. + +This volume narrates the adventures of Claude, a nameless orphan, who +finds not only his name, but fortune and relations, whilst serving in +the army of "Bonnie Prince Charlie." He takes part in the battle of +Culloden, his escape therefrom and subsequent adventures will be read +with breathless interest by every boy who is the fortunate possessor of +this book. The illustrations by Mr. Speed add much to the interest of +the story. + + +A Chase Round the World. By Robert Overton. Illustrated by A. Monro. In +large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, price 3s. 6d. + +The boy hero in this tale is occupied throughout in an honourable +endeavour to clear his father's name from the shadow of suspicion +which rests upon it, and to recover a stolen treasure. How he succeeds +in his quest, which carries him round the world and leads to many +strange adventures we leave to the readers of the story to find out. +Suffice it to say that the plot is admirably worked out, and there is +not a dull page from cover to cover. + + _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_ + + + + + NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR BOYS. + +In Quest of Sheba's Treasure. A Perilous Adventure by Sea and Land. By +S. Walkey. Illustrated by G. Hutchinson. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, +bevelled boards, price 3s. 6d. + +"A rousing book of adventure is 'In Quest of Sheba's Treasure,' by S. +Walkey, a tale of the days of Nelson (of whom, however, we get but a +glimpse) and of some bold Devon lads who went off to the Bedouin desert +in quest of the treasure of the Queen of Sheba, to which they had +obtained a clue. And after many perils and breathless escapes they find +it."--_Glasgow Herald._ + + +Lost in African Jungles. By Frederick Whishaw. With Four Original +Illustrations by J.B. Greene. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled +boards, price 3s. 6d. + +"'Lost in African Jungles' transports us by the magic wand of Fred. +Whishaw to the other side of the world, where plenty of perils from men +and beasts abound. Apart from being an excellent entertainment in +itself, the book will serve to illustrate the difficulties encountered +by British Colonists in the conquest of Lobengula."--_Birmingham +Gazette._ + + +The Fur Traders of the West; or, Adventures among the Redskins. By E.R. +Suffling. With numerous Illustrations by Andriolli and Lancelot Speed. +In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, price 3s. 6d. + +"The perilous but successful career of the Cornish family who settled in +the wild Oregon country to trade for skins with the Indians is depicted +with unflagging spirit, and much varied information is skilfully mingled +with the incidents of the story."--_Manchester Guardian._ + + _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_ + + + + + NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR GIRLS. + +Mona St. Claire. By Annie E. Armstrong. With Six Illustrations by G.D. +Hammond, R.I. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, +price 3s. 6d. + +"One is always glad to welcome literature thoroughly pure in its tone, +and such as youth can read with enjoyment. This is happily the case with +the present volume, which contains within its dainty covers a wholesome +and withal a stirring story."--_Lloyd's News._ + + +My Ladies Three. By Annie E. Armstrong. With Six Illustrations by G.D. +Hammond, R.I. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, +price 3s. 6d. + +"This is a pretty gentle tale of a young girl's romance in the days +which we connect with memories of Queen Anne, of Johnson and Goldsmith, +of gold-laced waistcoats and three-cornered hats. The story is charming +in its detail, for its fresh dainty picturing of the old-fashioned +country life and of the ways and manners of the country gentlefolk of a +by-gone time."--_School Board Chronicle._ + + +My Friend Anne. By Jessie Armstrong. With Six Illustrations by G.D. +Hammond, R.I. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, price +3s. 6d. + +A well-written tale of the days of Anne Boleyn, and the court of +Henry VIII., where for the most part the scene is laid, is depicted with +accuracy, and yet at the same time with an interest which cannot fail to +please the most critical of readers. + + _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_ + + + + + NEW ILLUSTRATED FAIRY TALES. + +In large crown 8vo, art linen, gilt top, or cloth gilt, bevelled boards, +price 3s. 6d. each. + + +The One-Eyed Griffin, and other Fairy Tales. A Series of Original +Stories by Herbert E. Inman. With numerous Illustrations by E.A. Mason. + +"This book contains several stories in addition to 'The One-Eyed +Griffin,' which is the chief item among them. This narrative is that of +a little boy who enters into the realms of fabulous monsters, where he +encounters the giants Can't, Won't, and Don't Care, into whose terrible +clutches has fallen the lady of his heart. With the aid of the One-Eyed +Griffin he succeeds in overcoming them, and the story succeeds, in +allegorical fashion, to detail the difficulties which befall the +diminutive hero. The illustrations are singularly happy in their +delineation of the subject, and will win the affections of the youthful +circle for whose benefit the volume has been produced."--_Daily +Telegraph._ + + +Icelandic Fairy Tales. By Mrs. A.W. Hall. With Twenty-six Original +Illustrations from Drawings by E.A. Mason. + +"A young reader could scarcely have a more promising introduction to +the literature of the Sagas. Sigurd and Frithjof and Ingeborg are not +indeed such imposing creatures as they are in the sterner tales; but +they are always people whom every child ought to know, and the giants +are giants of the proper sort."--_The Scotsman._ + + +The Owl King, and other Fairy Stories. A Series of Original Tales by +Herbert E. Inman. With numerous Illustrations by E.A. Mason. + +"So great is the cry among the little people for a fresh story--one they +have not heard before--that it is a relief to be able with 'The Owl +King' to satisfy for awhile their seemingly insatiable appetite. 'The +Owl King' will soon, however, become established among the old-time +favourites, for a good story once told travels with wonderful +swiftness."--_Family Circle._ + + _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_ + + + + + NEW ILLUSTRATED FAIRY TALES. + +In large crown 8vo, art linen, gilt top, or cloth gilt, bevelled boards, +price 3s. 6d. each. + +Grimms' Fairy Tales and Household Stories. Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull +and Mr. L.A. Wheatley. With numerous Original Illustrations and Coloured +Plates. + +Grimms' Goblins and Wonder Tales. Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull and Mr. +L.A. Wheatley. With numerous Original Illustrations and Coloured Plates. + +These two volumes of famous stories, collected by the Brothers Grimm in +the fertile and imaginative field of their native land, have an +ever-growing number of readers, and are assured a hearty welcome from +all who delight in finding really high-class children's literature, +issued in a thoroughly attractive and up-to-date style. + + +Andersen's Fairy Tales. Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull. With numerous +Original Illustrations and Coloured Plates. + +Andersen's Tales for the Young. Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull. With +numerous Original Illustrations and Coloured Plates. + +Amongst all the various editions of Andersen's popular tales, none will +be found to surpass these editions for fidelity in translation, fulness +of text, and excellence of get-up. The tales are world-wide favourites, +known to nursery-land of all nations. + + _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_ + + + + + NEW ILLUSTRATED FAIRY TALES. + +In large crown 8vo, art linen, gilt top, or cloth gilt, gilt, bevelled +boards, price 3s. 6d. each. + + +Prince Ubbely Bubble's Fairy Tales, and Glimpses from Elf-Land. By J. +Templeton Lucas. With numerous Illustrations by Barnard, Phiz, Ellen +Edwards, &c. + +The favourite themes of childhood are here, in a series of fascinating +stories, of which the first is "The Perseverance of Prince Ubbely +Bubble," and amongst numerous other tales are told those of "The Six +Goblin Eggs," "Tom and the Ogre," "The Adventures of John, the Son of +Jack the Giant Killer," etc. + + +The Old, Old Fairy Tales. Edited by Mrs. Valentine. With numerous +Original Illustrations and Coloured Plates. + +The well-known favourites, "Puss in Boots," "The White Cat," "Tom +Thumb," and others, are comprised in this collection, which embraces, +as its name implies, all the oft-told tales. + + +Holme Lee's Fairy Tales. The Story of Tuflongbo. With numerous Original +Illustrations. + +Is a narrative of the wonderful life and adventures of Tuflongbo. When +he grows up, he goes on a great journey, falls into the hands of giants, +amongst whom his escapes are recorded, until he finally puts off his +shoes and vanishes into shadowland. + + _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_ + + + + +_Transcriber's Notes:_ + + Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + Variations in hyphenation have been retained. + Page 46 "mame" changed to "name" ("his name honoured and respected") + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Torn Bible, by Alice Somerton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORN BIBLE *** + +***** This file should be named 35199.txt or 35199.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/1/9/35199/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Griff Evans, Lindy Walsh and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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